Delicious Death: The 121th Hunger Games
by santiago.poncini20
Summary: "The sweet release of death" Welcome to the 121th Hunger Games! (SYOT Closed)
1. Prologue: Menace

_**During the 116**__**th**__** Hunger Games**_

* * *

_**The Capitol**_

* * *

He had his target on his eye.

The sniper gun had the target on look. His eye on were set on him.

It´s weird how you can go from regular guy with messed up sexual problems, to a tribute on the Hunger Games, to working as a hitman for the President

And it is even weirder how the next target he had was nobody but the Vice President, Fabian Hale.

He didn´t want to keep killing. He didn´t want to do this. But he had to. If not, people he loved where in danger.

But really, who would be danger? He had pushed away almost everybody he had loved and cared, and the ones who he didn´t push away were either dead or he didn´t know where they were anymore. He was in pain due to this, and he didn´t know how to stop it.

_Focus Hans, _he tells to himself. He needs to focus. He can´t his emotions get to him anymore. He is a man now, a proper man, he tells himself, who is working for the nation´s greater good.

_No, you´re not. You are just a puppet who in the master plan of the President Myriad. _

_Shut up brain. I know what I am doing. _

_No. _

He would like to give the reason to his brain. He really would. But he can´t do it anymore. He is a soldier of night, a killer with payback, a slave to the system.

He is about to pull the trigger, to kill the man he has to murder who is right next to the man who "asked" him to kill Fabian, when he sees it.

A little girl approaches Fabian, and Hans can´t read lips but he knows. He is his daughter. Myriad asked him to kill Fabian in front of his daughter.

Hans starts to hyperventilate, something he hadn´t done in a while. _I can´t do it I can´t do it I can´t do it I just can´t. It isn´t right and it isn´t fair why I should I do it? WHY?_

In that moment, he has to decide. Either he follows as said, or Hans´s secrets are old to the universe. He doesn´t want that. He doesn´t want that at all. Either Fabian dies and his daughter´s innocence dies with him, or Hans´ is probably ruined and lynched by people all around the world.

He can´t let neither of things happen, but he has to make a decision. If he doesn't the decide, it will be the same as making a decision anyways, cause the result would be the same as the second option.

In the outside Hans´ composure seems sterne, even a little stoic. While in the inside…

_WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO_ _WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO_

He knows he has to decide. He knows it. He just knows it.

Finally, after some brain tension on his head, he makes a decision.

He aims his gun once again, and he fires. He later grabs the knife and starts running away.

In the inside of the windowed building, Fabian is paralyzed, and his daughter screams.

The president just died in front of him.

* * *

_Hey, this is me, 20, arriving with a new SYOT for you. This one will have 12 POV Tribute Characters, and 12 Non-pov tribute characters. _

_The form is: __ : / / . / d / e / - n / ? v c = 0 & c = 0 & w = 1_

_Hope you liked the prologue. Stay Tuned for more!_


	2. Prologue 2: A Search

_**3 weeks before the Reaping of the 121th Hunger Games**_

* * *

**_The Capitol_**

* * *

Blandus was angry.

His husband had almost got shot a few years ago, and they hadn´t found out the culprit yet! How did could happen? He had been the Vice President of Panem, and now he was the President, and the guilty one of that horrific act hadn´t been found.

He had told his husband, over and over, that he should look intensely for the culprit, and his husband answered that he did all it took to find him, but that it had been impossible. How is husband would be kept safe now?

He needed to keep his family and home safe. He needed to be safe in his position as First Man of the entire nation Panem. He needed that, and he would anything for it.

Anything.

* * *

Silvius was a natural disaster.

Sure, he was one of the greatest journalists/detectives in the entire Capitol, but he was... a bit messy.

"Get out of my bed, Samuel" he said to his partner. If someone from 75 years ago saw them in bed in that moment, they would think that Samuel was being sold as a sexual merchandise, as victors during that time of Panem were like.

But no. They had met and had entered in some sort of agreement. They would have sex, Samuel will give him information about the victors, and Silvius would let him stay in his house instead of going home. Samuel had an adversity to going home, most likely because he didn´t want to get remembered of his dead friend and crush.

_That guy who died in the fourth quarter quell? _Silvius thought when Samuel first told him about it. About him hiding away in the closet, his whole life, all the time pining for a better place to live in. All the loving a guy who was the most homophobic and sexist guy ever. All the time being a _freaking loser_.

That´s what Silvius thought Samuel was. A freaking nobody. Sure, he had won the games, sure, but he didn´t have an interesting story to write about.

Sure he could write about his misery, but that´s it. What he needed was real trauma, drama, and action. That´s what every story needed. That´s why he always went where there where small rebellions in the district, and told a story about it. That´s every political fight and affair was something that needed to be told. Cause it makes for a good story.

Samuel got up of bed and after they got dressed up, they started to talk.

"What information do you have for me now, Sammy?" Silvius told him, exasperated for information

"Well" Sam said. "I think Wallaby Allie wants to quit PanTube"

Silvius just laughed. "You think that´s good enough? That´s some information i can sell to someone else, but still, i need more."

Samuel Livingston continued "Well, i think Gavriel Asterion is self-harming again."

"Like i said, that´s not good enough" he said and he laughed again.

"Okay... I know that Kory told Gavin that he wanted to look for his real dad."

Silvius smiled. "Good enough. Good enough, boy."

Then Samuel smiled and left.

For once, he had an amazing story to write. Oh, the tales of looking for their biological family, that´s something he can relate to. He was once an adopted child too, and he knows the conflicts that arrive from there. Oh, how the magnificent victor looks for who gave him that, the blood of a victor.

Then the door was knocked. _Did Samuel want more sex? Well, i want too but i am busy so..._

But it wasn´t Samuel at all.

It was someone completely different.

"Hello" said Blandus Hale. "I need your help"

* * *

**_The form is in my profile! And if not, ask me and i will send it to you, somehow!_**


	3. Prologue 3: The Truth

_**A month before the Reaping of the 121th Hunger Games**_

* * *

_**District Eight**_

* * *

Kory was being annoyed.

"Leave me alone, dad". Sure, he was a man just starting his twenties, but people still bothered him. It wasn´t like he was a happy-go lucky guy who did everything with a smile.

Especially after spending a lot of years on an orphanage.

"Come on Kory, let me in. We need to talk if you will do what you-

"I SAID, LEAVE ME ALONE!" And his new adoptive father did. He knew that being an adoptive father was hard, especially a lone parent, but he was really, _really _annoying. He just couldn´t comprehend he wanted to spend some time alone and that he wasn´t the same little kid anymore. He was a victor, and Willis was living in his house now, not in his, so he better buckle up and stops whining so much.

He looked to what he had in his hands. The papers who had once told him the truth of his origins. That he wasn´t Willis´ son and her wife hadn´t left him with a baby to take care of before she died. No matter what happened, he knew the truth now.

And he had to do something about it.

He reread the papers over and over again, with only one purpose.

Finding the determination to what he needed to do. Finding the will, the guts, the willpower, whatever he needed to make what he wanted come true.

What he truly needed.

He ran out of the room and as he heard Willis´ cries, begging him to stay and talk to him.

But Kory didn´t want to listen. He was in his own world, a world that tried to suffocate him.

Just as the District Four Female had tried to do in his games, the lake that was his arena not helping him much to win those damn games. He still remembered those days, but he couldn´t let those emotions and memories come to him again. He needed to come forward and do what he needed to do.

He ran to the office, people in the entire district looking at him weirdly as he ran, as he escaped his previous life with only one purpose.

The truth.

He arrived at the office and went directly to reception, pushing all the people there saying "Excuse me, I am sorry, forgive me, sorry, please" and much more pleas to let be in front of them.

When he arrived at the front, the woman at the reception gave at a big glare.

"What the hell do you want, _Mr. Kory Canters?"_

And he only needed to say just a few words and the desire came true.

"I want to know who my real family is"

* * *

_Hey guys, i am so glad for the submissions i have been getting, and i would be so lucky to get more! Hopes to that!_


	4. Prologue 4: Loss

_**During the 116th Hunger Games**_

* * *

_**District Twelve**_

* * *

Shouna is still exhausted.

She has been working for a long time in her father´s shop, and she still feels exhausted. She doesn´t know how will she rest, but will.

Somehow. She needs to do it. If not, how will she continue working tomorrow?

She arrives home, and is able to see her mother as she opens the door.

"Oh, Shouna good luck you are here. Help me to clean the house, will you?"

"Yes, mom" She cleans and she cleans, and night time arrives shortly after finishing.

She goes outside her home without waking up anyone and goes to the Victor´s Village.

Someone is waiting for her there.

She knocks the door, and Hans opens up. He is casually dressed and his hair is messy. He would be a good boyfriend candidate if it wasn´t due to A) Shouna is asexual and B) Nothing else.

"I received your call. What happened?" Shouna asks him, and then she sees it. The rifle next to the stairs. "Can you tell me what´s up, Hans?"

He looks at her and just says.

"I did something bad. Something really bad."

"Can I come in?"

She walks into the house and as usual, it still amazes her all the beautiful things he has. A lot more than any merchant class citizen in Twelve, even the mayor and their family.

And then, Hans tells her everything. The murders he had to commit to keep himself safe, the one he did now, and his secret.

His dirty, ugly secret.

"It´s okay" she says, even though it will never be okay.

Hans cries and cries, and that´s how they spend their night.

Mourning for their own loss.


	5. Prologue 5: Love of my Life

_**The Capitol**_

* * *

_**One week before the Reaping of the 121**__**st**__** Hunger Games**_

* * *

Aldora is keepings things inside.

How could she not, when the love of her life is married to someone else, someone so great and better than her that she will never feel loved again except he loves her.

It was in university they met. He was studying Literature and she was studying how to be a Gamemaker. Typical stuff that happens in the Capitol.

He looked at her, and her eyes came bluer than they were before. Cupid had thrown her arrow at her, and she wasn´t going to take that arrow out of her body any time soon.

They soon spend a lot of time together. They walked around the previous arenas, especially through the one of the Fourth Quarter Quell; since it was so tropical it was perfect for sex. They were in love. His body next to her body, kissing, touching in each other in ways they wouldn´t like to be told about.

Loving each other.

That all went bankrupt, very soon, when the other guy appeared.

Black, handsome, and with a prosperous future ahead of him, she would totalyly fucked him for the money if she hadn´t been with the love of her life before of that. But then her stupid partner had to bed the other guy, and her love had been destroyed.

For a long time, she didn´t believe in love. She used to think she would be together forever with honey boo, however that wouldn´t make true any time. For a long, she had been alone, afraid of being left behind by everyone else.

Until Mrs. Kell found on her on one of her visits to university, and took her as a protectee. The heir of her game making empire. Mrs. Kell had been a nice woman. She had given her life, she had given her purpose. She had given her everything she needed. Sometimes Aldora´s own mother felt jealous of her, even though she never said it.

For Aldora it was obvious. She knew people wanted to be her for once, to be in her place and do what she was doing. She couldn´t let that go, she just couldn´t. It was her new heaven made on earth.

Then, one year ago, Kelsa told her what she was going to do. She was going to use one last year to teach her everything she needed, and that would be the end of Mrs. Kell´s career. She wanted to retire, to be her children.

Aldora couldn´t understand why Kelsa was leaving her. How dare she forget the bond they had?! She was everything to her, more than her own mother had ever being, and she was going to retire!

The day she knew the news, Aldora smashed a lot of plates. It wasn´t until his saw the love of her on his own massion that he knew the truth.

She had to get him back.

"Are you okay, Ms Contreal?"

She looked back to the arena she made, bellow her. The mutts were being tested, and the gummies bear were doing pretty well.

"Yes, I am fine Kyle"

"Is the arena okay, Ms. Contreal? Do you want to change it?"

"No it´s okay, I am just hungry" she said with a smirk.

And then, the photo she held in her hands of the love of her life fell to the arena, only for the force field to shatter it completely.

_What a pity_, Aldora thought, _Blandus´s face is really pretty._

* * *

**_Tributes:_**

**_D1M: Midas Ellsworth-Price, 18 (Thorne98)_**

_D1F: Chloris Lillet, 18 (LordShiro)_

_D2M: Hero Cessar, 16 (Guesttwelve)_

**_D2F: Fernanda _****_Aleksandrovich (LordShiro_**

_D3M: Moghan Seller, 16 (Paradigm of Writing)_

**_D3F: Ace Sharai, 15 (Guesttwelve)_**

**_D4M: Wraith Devlin 17 (spaceMars)_**

_D4F: Opal Wyndam, 15 (matts0688)_

**_D5M: Kristoph Wyaty, 17 (Andi99)_**

_D5F: Missy Breaker Crawn, 15 (Merp1Molecule)_

**_D6M: Hermes Stallion, 17 (Icicle Light)_**

_D6F: Bexley "Bex" Hartwell , 18 (foxfox12)_

_D7M: Ralio Targe, 14 (CandleFire45)  
_

**_D7F: Duchenne Lignin, 16 (CandleFire45)_**

**_D8M: Hart Dallas, 14 (66samvr)_**

_D8F: Noleen Kassey, 15 (66samvr)_

_D9M: Miller Robinson, 13 (ReadBooksWriteThings)_

**_D9F: Ryella "Rye" Aral, 16 (IIJamesII)_**

_D10M: Ernest Malthus, 13 (CandleFire45)_

**_D10F: Dawn Maconson, 18 (Paradigm of Writing)_**

_D11M: Shale Harrison, 15 (spaceMars)_

**_D11F: Electra Milani, 18 (matts0688)_**

**_D12M: Noir Skoria, 18 (Reader Castellan)_**

_D12F: Amelia "Amy" Magnolia-Rose, 12 (foxfox12)_

_Good luck from here and out for those that got accepted, we are in for a ride!_

_-Santiago_


	6. Introduction One: Abomination

_**Dawn Maconson, District Ten Female (18)**_

* * *

Dawn didn´t feel sad at all.

Sure, she was going to a district funeral, but she still didn´t feel fazed about the death of Lauren Malthus. Sure, she was invited to his funeral, but so was everyone in District Ten. It was a tradition in that district to use every opportunity to get more lands somehow, either by marrying off your daughter to some rich guy or gal or just by other´s people selflessness pity.

Dawn couldn´t comprehend why people were so nice to each other. Why people had those type of loyalties with each other. But she got to go, as her night job told her to do. It was to maintain image and keep her tided.

That´s why she is bringing her grandmother Yvonne with her. Nobody would think a girl who is taking care of her grandma who has dementia is the responsible for this catastrophic event.

As he walks the road, he finds someone familiar on the road. Someone she had seen just yesterday last night, but was expecting to see soon.

"I see you have taken my advice." Richard Hoffman is a no nonsense man, and he respected Dawn for being the same and having the same goals. For being an equal.

"Yeah." She says talking out loud in the middle of the road. No one is seen her, and she thinks no did. The only person present there was Yvonne, and she is ill and won´t notice.

They are guilt-free

"Yes, Head Peacekeeper Hoffman."

"Please, call me Richard. I think we are too close for those formalities."

Dawn was happy for someone to use first basis name with her. No one had done it since her parents died…

"Since your ratting out your parents and sister, I think you have done a great work so far," Richard started walking around her and Yvonne, who was in a wheelchair and asking who the man and Dawn were. "You have many criminals in jail and put that man Lauren were his place should. Dead." He continued walking around her and Yvonne, making faces at the eighteen-year-old and doing everything in her power to be stable. "Forcing him to commit suicide mustn´t have been easy, but was already unstable. You just pushed him in the right direction."

Dawn is proud of that. She is proud of honoring herself and Richard, the man she truly admires and wants to be like.

"So, I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Dawn flips her hair back. "What´s that all about?" Dawn throws a smirking smile.

"it´s not a proposition, more like a request in form of an answer" Richard smiles bright. He usually doesn´t smile, so this is a big occasion maybe?

"I am sending a letter to District Two." _Oh god I am going to jail even what I did to him, and I am nothing to him I killed my family for nothing I am worthless_-"I am trying to promote you to actual Peacekeeper".

Dawn would jump of emotion if this was something she did while happy. But it wasn´t. What she did was stay stoic, but jump from emotion in the inside. Her dreams were going to come true

"I see that you are very excited about this. And that you have to go to this thing people when someone dies, so go. And make a good image out of yourself. Gotcha?"

"Yes sir- I mean Richard" She said as she was straight in position and looking at him. Richard and with Yvonne in her wheelchair, she continued her path.

When she finally arrived to the funeral, she saw one of the boys crying. Dawn thought it must have been the man´s son.

Must be pretty useful then that he died.

* * *

_**Noir Skoria, District Twelve Male (18)**_

* * *

Noir was worried.

The patient they were going to see wasn´t going to heal itself soon, but the family had plead to them to save their daughter.

It´s like they couldn´t do anything about it. And they couldn´t really. Jillian Magnolia-Rose was incredibly ill with cancer, and she couldn´t just let it go. Like anyone with a terminal disease pondering on them, she spent her last days surrounded by her family.

Noir would have liked to feel something like that during his childhood. Not his illness, but love. He wanted to be able to loved one day by someone else. Family, friends, but also loved. Everyone vanished from his life since the incident, and he has been unable to make friends since.

At least he had Cinder with him. He wasn´t his mom, he had to remind himself of that, but he was here and taking care of him, and that´s what mattered after all, right?

Cinder and Noir arrived at the Magnolia-Rose household, only to find Jillian´s mother waiting for them at the door.

"What is the incomplete doing here?" Suzuki Rose responded. "Are you bringing this abomination with you?"

Cinder turned around and started walking back home. "If you are gonna treat him this way, Jillian won´t get his meds."

Suzuki´s intentions change completely. "No! Come back, please come back, I beg you, please!" Suzuki was grabbing Cinder by the feet now. "I am sorry, okay. He can stay. Please, help my daughter."

"Will you treat Noir well?" Cinder was looking down at his pleader.

"Yes, yes, anything for you" Suzuki looked in more than Noir has ever been. That´s saying a lot.

Cinder and Noir reluctantly followed Suzuki inside, where they found her husband crying. Noir instantly empathized with him. He must have been feeling he wasn´t being the hero of his own story, or of his daughter, or that he wasn´t being man enough to save her. He could relate to that feeling.

Jillian was ill, and as the lights of the sky illuminated her face through the window, Noir could see how it had been destroying slowly, piece by piece. Jillian looked very tired, even as she was dreaming, and-

"Who are you?" A little girl asked. It wasn´t Jillian, but she looked like a younger, healthier version of her. She must be-

"I am Jillian´s little sister." There was the answer. "Amelia. But you can call me Amy." She looked to be pretty small, probably she was eight. "I am twelve, but many people think I am older." Nope, wrong age. "Are you here to help my sister?" Noir nodded as Cinder continued to talk with the girl´s parents. "Are you going to heal her?" Noir shaked her head. "Then why are you here?"

"We will give her some medicines. It will ease her pain." Noir wanted to help this girl, but a simple healer couldn´t heal cancer. Maybe in the Capitol it could happen, but they didn´t share their technology with District Twelve.

Cinder then proceeded to handle the syringe to Noir. He was still learning and even though both Noir wanted to help, he was still a bit afraid of all medical related things.

Noir introduced the syringe. Amelia quickly run out of the house to vomit after seeing that. Then Jillian woke up. But it wasn't like she had really woken up; she was still in her dream world.

After the event, Noir asked one thing.

"Can I use your bathroom?" At first, the couple owners of the house were reluctant, but quickly they shoved their worried aways when Cinder told them that if they didn´t let him do what a human must do, they wouldn´t receive more medicine.

Noir opened the door of the bathroom. He looked himself in the mirror. He just couldn´t see why Cinder was trying so much with him. What did he have of good in him? He was an incomplete person. An humanoid abomination. Why did Cinder love him so much?

Noir then went to do what all man do and pee. It was going slowly went the door opened a bit.

"Oh, sorry" Amelia said. "I just needed to- OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!" The little girl had seen the abomination he was, and then he started running away.

"Noir!" Cinder was running after him now, but it didn´t matter what he was going to say to comfort him. Many people had tried to dress him up as a girl since what his father did to him, and sometimes Noir believed he was one. After all, he didn´t have what made him a man anymore.


	7. Introductions Two: Heart Problems

_**Midas Elsworth-Price, District One Male (18)**_

* * *

Midas was happy for once.

He was for once relaxed and well rested. No coffee, no sugar, no nothing. He was pretty sure what was going to come next and nothing was going to stop him.

He was going to be the selected volunteer.

He just had to get through these games.

The academies always made since the 101st, to make sure only the best got in. It not always worked, but they have got some victories since.

And Midas was going to make sure he was going to get one.

There were only 5 people who hadn´t been "killed" yet inside the Academy. Three girls and two boys. He had only to kick Ignatius Coesus´ ass and everything would be set for him to volunteer.

The problems were the remaining girls. One of them, Chloris Lillet, was the boy´s girlfriend. Arima Macaulay was the second and she was Chloris´ friend. Not a good thing. And lastly there was… her.

Ambrosia Arquette. The girl he had once loved, and still did, deep down, but couldn´t let anyone find out about that. It would be sacrilegious if anyone found about that.

Midas felt a touch on his back and instantly drew his shield.

"Calm down. It´s me." Ambrosia was standing right in front of him. "I need your help."

The girl who had spread lies about him, calling him various horrible things. The girl he once wanted to marry someday was in front of him, asking for help. "What the fuck do you need my help?"

"Hey, calm down, half-bro. I don´t want you to step out of line here again." Midas wanted to eliminate her from the competition here, maybe punch her in the circle where the elimination of one happened. It would certainly be easy for him to do in this very moment, but alas, something stopped him. Was it love, or need for help, he was surely going to be next to her for a few more minutes.

"Did you see that room?" She said pointing to one. "That´s the room where Chloris and the others are waiting. They aren´t going to come out because they know we will lose if we go in. But together, we have a chance, right?"

Midas didn´t want her to have a chance to go into the games. But if he was helped to win this competition, then sure. He wanted to be left alone, but if he won he could all the alone he wanted.

Ambrosia and Midas looked at each other.

"Are you ready, Midas?"

"Now or never."

They both ran with their weapons high, but as they entered the room, two cannons sounded.

"Oh come on, Chloe. You didn´t have to do that."

"What do you want? For me to see you die in the Games? No way, my love"

Ambrosia and Midas stopped in their tracks as they opened the door. Ignatius and Arima had been eliminated.

That meant… he was going to the games. He was going to do his adoptive´s father dream. His own dream would come true.

But now, Ambrosia had to fight Chloris.

Ambrosia threw herself at Chloris, but Chloris escaped every blow with a precision of a gazelle. It was like she was doing a dance and she just couldn´t let go of her dancing partner.

One moment next, Chloris had Ambrosia at her mercy. But Midas did nothing, and as Chloris broke one of Ambrosia´s arm, she told Midas something.

"Do you really want her to go with the games with you, pretty boy?" Chloris had that scent in her that just made you do what she asked you to do. "Eliminate her."

Midas didn´t want to hurt Ambrosia no more, but he didn´t want to be the one who got hurt by her in the games. She was always hurting him.

So then, he punched the circle, and a cannon sounded.

The simulation ended.

"THE VOLUNTEERS OF THIS YEAR ARE MIDAS ELSWORTH-PRICE, AND CHLORIS LILLET!"

The voice rang in his ears, and he could see Chloris doing a celebration dance herself.

Ambrosia clearly wasn´t.

"How could you do that?!" Ambrosia said as she slapped Midas. "You are just as bad my mother told me you are. You are incest person, piece of shit who wants to ride his own sister, you bastard!"

Midas was left as everyone looked at him and looked the other way. They didn´t know the whole story.

Chloris came up to him

"Good job there, district partner."

She couldn´t be trusted

* * *

_**Hart Dallas, District Eight Male (14)**_

* * *

Hart was distraught.

Sure he was feeling fine in the outside, but he also a bit let down in the inside.

Noleen had been stoning again, and he couldn´t do anything to help her.

"Noleen, can you hear me?" She was clearly stoned, while Tovin was clearly too high to do anything for himself and was sleeping. Ivan was having sex in Tovin´s room with a girl-Hart wished he was there-, and he was left with Noleen, just right after Samson left the house to sell more drugs.

This was just a casual Sunday.

Hart shook Noleen´s drugged body, but It was to no avail, so he just went to grab something to eat. Tovin´s house was huge, so he had lot of space to go to the kitchen and walk.

That´s the misery of the rich. Hart laughed at the irony, and went onto a grab an apple. He liked them green, but there was only red here. Oh well, that´s was just something on Hart´s life. Life never went the way he wanted life to go.

He was about to throw the corpse of the fruit to the garbage can, when someone grabbed him from him behind. He screamed, life not letting go of him as usual, until the person touched his private parts.

"Can you stop that Noleen?!" He told the obvious culprit. "It´s not funny."

"What? Haven´t you ever experienced surprise sex from behind?"

Hart was about to tell her that it was wrong what she was doing, touching him in places she didn´t asked him about, when he turned around and looked into her eyes, Her beautiful, brown deep eyes, eyes that lured him into being with her the first time, and they still did, no matter what it happened. They trapped him into the ideal of her, that ideal that will never come, but was still there in a way, somewhere, outside, luring him into battling love.

"Hart." Noleen said. She was looking serious for a moment, one of the few moments it happened. Every time they talked about family with the group they were given the opportunity to see Noleen get weird, and say things that don´t make much sense, but never figure out why. "Wha-What would you do if you were trapped in a relationship you wanted out?"

Hart knew the answer to that. It was that no matter what happened between the two-or more- people in a relationship, you stick with them. No matter how many times they tried to have sex with you in public, no matter how many times you break up and get back together, no matter how much you told yourself you want to be just friends with that person, you are stuck with them. Because you love them, and you just don´t want to let go. Hart knew that if you let go, you don´t know how dangerous that person would get, or what would they do to them, or themselves. It was pain knowing their life was at your hands, and that there would be pain if you rejected them. They might even create pain for other people, and you want other people to get hurt.

_I clearly don´t want that._

But he didn´t say that, instead he did something different.

"Why care about relationships anyways?" Hart did movements with his hands. "We are just living beings, and living beings are all meant to die sometime in their own future."

"I didn´t know that." Noleen said with curiosity. "You know I dropped out of school a long time ago, so don´t go all smarty on me, Harty."

Harty. That was the nickname Noleen gave to him the first time they meet. He was instantly crushed by Cupid´s arrow that time, and since then, no matter how much he tried, he couldn´t let go of Noleen. And he knew she couldn´t let go of him either, so why pretend?

So then, in an instant, as he was getting ready to kiss her, something unexpected happened.

She kissed him first. It wasn´t like he thought it would feel. It wasn´t full of sparks and fire. It wasn´t like the time he looked at Iva- No, that didn´t matter. It wasn´t true, and he knew that. He was in love with Noleen, and no one else.

Noleen looked at him, completely in love.

"Wanna have sex in the bushes?"

* * *

_Hope you liked the chapter! Review, my readers, tell what you think of this._

_-Santiago_


	8. Introductions Three: Party Never Stops

_**Electra Milani, District Eleven Female (18)**_

* * *

Electra doesn´t feel ready to do this.

But she has set herself a challenge, and when she does that, she finishes them. It isn´t as if she is just a Brainiac from District Three who only does what he needs to do for the job. No, she is going to do it because she is in love.

Or at least she thinks she is.

The sounds of the mayor´s daughter party is flashing through the air, and the lights are blinding her, so she sits on a chair and waits for Amper to appear. She has to, is the only way. Since the both kissed, she had been in love with her, but she can´t spell the words, and when she does… she doesn´t want to think of the rejection. She wants to be with her no matter what.

Electra grabs some drinks from a guy´s hand, thanking him for passing by with her head, and the guy leaves angry. She needs the alcohol, but she hasn´t found with it yet. It wasn´t in the kitchen, the most obvious place ever. So where is it?

"Hi." A guy next to her says. He is obviously younger than her for a few years, and even though that hasn´t ever stopped the great Electra Milani from getting what she wants, she doesn´t respond. She doesn´t want to talk to him now.

"I am Shale. Shale Harrison." She knows what she is going to say, but before she can say no to his proposal, Amper appears.

With a guy by holding her arm.

_That bitch, how dare he steal her from me._

Electra feels like if she wants to throw up, but for some reason she doesn´t. Instead, she smiles as Amper nears her with her "boyfriend".

"Electra! You came!"

"How could I not come. It´s a party" Electra wants to throw darts at Amper´s guy head, but alas, she has none. "It´s my natural element."

"Have you met my boyfriend, Scot?" Electra wants to say _Yes, I have met him. The time he just appeared like an asshole beside you. _But the words don´t come out.

"Hi, how are you. Nice to meet you Electra" _It´s as nice to meet you as it is nice to be thrown shit at my face._

Electra sees the guy still standing next to her, the one who obviously tried to flirt with her, what was his name? Slate? No, it was Shale. She makes plan she only hopes it works.

"And it´s time you guys meet _my_ boyfriend, Shale. Say hi Shale" She says while hugging the stranger and kissing him on the mouth like Amper must do when Scot and her are having- Electra doesn´t want to think of that. She never wants to think of that.

"He-Hello, friends!" Shale appears to be playing along, or at least be as stupid that he would be her boyfriend in three seconds.

"Oh. I didn´t know you liked younger people, Ele." Amper almost always calls her Ele, and Ele loves it. It makes her feel gratified.

"I like everyone. Well not everyone, but you know what I mean." Ele tries to be smug about it, but she feels like she is failing. What if Amper never loves her? What will happen then?

"Ampy, can we go to my friends? The guys of the field are waiting."

"Oh, sorry love. Bye Ele! Have a good day."

As they leave, Electra finally throws up in a garbage can nearby. She can´t handle the emotions inside of her. She needs to purge herself for loving the wrong person.

"Are you okay?" The guy Shale says to her, having followed to the garbage. She is garbage, after all, why doesn´t Amper love her then?

"It´s okay if she doesn´t love you. It´s okay. Someone will love you on the future, and I know that person will be extremely kind to you and will be your protector and savior."

Ele doesn´t know what to say to the stranger´s words, but she accepts them.

"Thanks… Shale, right?"

"The magnificent Shale at your service madam" He says while making a reverence at her. Electra has to laugh at that.

She is about to ask him if he can be accompanying her while she throws up when he says he needs to look for his friends.

"I need to look for Geoff and Sulani. Want to accompany me?"

"No, it´s fine. I am fine. You can leave."

And as he leaves and she throws up again, she realizes she was never fine.

* * *

_**Kristoph Wyatt, District Five Male (17)**_

* * *

Kristoph is getting ready.

To leave the party, that´s it. He has spent a lot of time in it already and he usually tries to stay the longer possible, but he has other business to attend afterwards, so he got to leave now.

He starts getting ready by saying goodbye courteously to everyone important. George, the mayor of District Five, who has many secrets and usually tries to repent his son from his "sexual undoing". It´s no wonder his son, Jeremiah, is so easy to control and he is able to tell what he does so easily. He is very naïve, Jeremiah that´s it, and so he is able to get him to do whatever he wants.

Then he says goodbye to the family of the Head Peacekeeper of District Five, Johnson. She is always talking about the crimes in town, specially about a certain girl who calls herself Breaker and says she is genderfluid, whatever trend that is. He knows that there are non-binary people in the Capitol, but he is astonished that there are some in the districts. He has always assumed they were just a trend that would disappear sometime soon, a way to stand out from other people and get power from others by doing exactly that.

Her daughter Serena, sends a wink in his direction, but it´s nothing sexual. It´s just work between companions in this gigantic world of district nobility, so to speak.

He tells the maid to give him his coat and his scarf, always in style with the mayor trends running in his social world, and gets out. The cold air of this June night is freezing his ass off, but he can´t complain near his equals, only on people on lower status you can show what you truly think.

Kristoph has no idea why he thought that, but he decides to continue his journey to the place he sleeps in.

"Care to join our game, sir?" A girl with masculine air has appeared in front of him, with a girl of much more feminity and obviously more fit for the social status someone like Kristoph deserves. Kristoph doesn´t even thinks in the first girl´s proposal, only thinking that if the second girl weren´t so poor looking, she would be making a good trophy wife based on her looks.

"So, what´s your game, ladies?" Kristoph doesn´t want to engage in their little thing, he never understood the appeal of helping poor people, except if it was to look better in front of other people. That he understands. "What are you going to do?"

"Just look at my two hands" The first girl, he realizes that she is younger that the second girl.

"What about the- "Kristoph can´t finish in the sentence because the next instant he feels immense pain in his private area, and then he falls back-faced to the ground thanks to a certain fist going straight to this face.

As he falls into the ground, and the girls start taking his stuff, he can only feel pain. And a desire for revenge. He only needs to know the name of one of the girls and his revenge will be completed.

He grabs the younger girl´s legs and drags her into the ground before she starts running away.

"What´s your name? HUH?" The other girl starts to push him away, but he feels like he will achieve his goal soon.

"Leave my sibling alone!"

"Actually," The younger person says as Kristoph is held by the two of them. "I am feeling like a girl today, so it´s pretty cool if you call me a sister today."

Kristoph now knows about he had to know. So, what he does? He lets them steal from him. As the robbers leave, Kris thinks it would make for a great pity story for the rich of the high society. That person is going to the hunger games. Since the Capitol asked every possible tribute to add his name themselves into the bowl, the person most likely added his own "new" name into the bowl, they will be easy to find.

Kristoph runs home, nose bleeding, vengeance ready to be implemented. He doesn´t care for his father asking how he is when he arrives, his mother asking why he is so goddamn late. He doesn´t care that when he calls their house a "poor people´s home", his parents start screaming at him. He just goes to the living room and calls Johnson, saying his has an idea to help him get rid of a certain someone.

Plans are made. Plans are finished.


	9. Introductions Four: Of Bullies and Love

_**Wraith Devlin, District Four Male (17)**_

* * *

Wraith was in a state of joy.

He was gonna be let to volunteer for The Hunger Games.

He didn`t have much going in his life. So this was gonna be a great adventure.

Wraith liked adventures. When he was a small child he liked to imagine he would one day go on to join The Hunger Games, or a television show about the sexualities of people and how sex was bad, as he didn't understand why people did that horrendous act.

Now, one of his two childhood wishes was gonna come true. And he was so happy.

He got up from his bed. He hadn`t slept all night because of the excitement he had in his veins, and he wasn't going to let that stop him from volunteering.

He put on his clothes, brushed his teeth and went downstairs.

"Oh my child!" Said his mother right after he started making the breakfast. "I am so happy for you! I know you will kill all them off and you will win that death match everyone talks about!"

His mother was like that, but he loved her anyway. It didn`t matter he would always be embarrassed by her. She was her mother and she loved him, and that`s all that mattered.

He went and said goodbye to his dad and left.

He walked the streets of District Four, the fishing district. He liked and didn`t like it at the same time. The reasons were that he loved eating shark and the reasons for the other thing were-

"Oh! Look who is here" Said Dolphin Mackenzie, his bully of all life. Even though Wraith didn`t go to school, Wraith had to be with Dolphin at all times because their parents were friends and Dolphin didn`t have many friends at school, obviously because of his attitude. "The ugliest guy ever"

Wraith signaled some insults. Wraith didn`t many patience for bullies. He had suffered enough because of his lack of friends and everyone gossiping about him and saying things like

_why is he homeschooled, is he diseased? Does he have cancer or something? Ew, don`t say Fisha. Cancer for people who are weak. _That`s why he liked being alone. No one bothered him if he was alone.

And the worst is that he didn`t even care about people calling him ugly or weak. No, he didn`t care and he had showed them off that he could do whatever he wanted by becoming the selected volunteer. No one, even eighteen-year-old Dolphin Mackenzie had stopped him.

But oh boy, did he hate him.

"Why can`t you speak, huh. Are you dumb?" Dolphin pushed him

"Are you afraid?" Dolphin pushed him again

"Are you-"

"Oh, please. Stop it Dolphy." A girl who he recognized neared them. She looked younger than them, and if Wraith were her age and did like people sexually, he would bang her, because she was aesthetically good looking.

"Oh sorry, Opal is this your friend? I didn`t know. I am so sorry please forgive me please."

"It`s okay Dolphin. Just go get drunk and I will right back with you."

Dolphin then went into the tavern of the district.

"So, this is the great Wraith Devlin. A kid who can`t defend himself." The fifteen-year-old laughed. Wraith hated her guts in that moment.

_You can`t make someone who I am not._

"It`s okay kid. I will defend you in the bloodbath" she laughed and in that Wraith walked away. Everyone knew her parents had paid for her being selected as the volunteer.

Wraith went to the square and waited and waited, till it was time for the reaping. He went there and joined the other kids in the lines. He saw Opal volunteer, proclaim that she was gonna be the best victor District Four had ever had.

And then it was his turn.

He ran up the stage, but then a voice called over

"I volunteer!"

It was Dolphin.

Tormenta looked at him with curiosity and then back and forth between him and the other kid.

"So, I don`t know what to do." The escort said. "This isn`t what I am paid for."

"Just let the mute kid volunteer." Wraith was shocked at Opal`s words. She was betraying her boyfriend for this?

"NO NO NO" Dolphin screamed as he was carried away.

"Good luck, buddy." Opal send a wink towards Wraith

This wasn`t good.

* * *

_**Ryella Aral, District Nine Female (16)**_

* * *

"Ryella Aral!"

Ryella walked up the stage in that moment of terror, and stood next to her crying district partner. She knew that boy, Miller. She had seen once in a while in school, and he was always good to everyone.

In that moment, Ryella envisioned a future where her boyfriend volunteered to save her because he couldn`t stand to be away from her just for a while. They both danced and kissed in each other in the interviews and they would win together, like those two kids from the Seventy Fourth Hunger Games.

But that didn`t happen. Instead, she was left in a unhospitable room with very few lights.

She didn`t care that her parents came to her crying, but that in one moment her mother told, supposedly as a joke, that this will be an opportunity to get money. She didn`t care that her friends were also crying, and wishing her good luck.

To her that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered to her was Max.

When the peacekeepers opened the door and he appeared, she was truly happy. She didn`t know if she was going to die and she wanted to be with her boyfriends all the remaining time she had.

But then, _they_ appeared alongside him.

"Oh Ryella, I am so excited to see you wear those sexy capitol outfits in the Capitol!" said Lace laughing his ass off.

"Ryella, when you are in the Capitol, please send me a note saying how your death is?" Said Corny. "Oh wait, you won`t because you will be dead!"

They all laughed. Corn, Lace, Sax, even Max giggled a bit. Ryella didn`t care, what mattered was that her boyfriend was there.

"Oh Max, are you gonna tell her you looooooooove her and that you will die without her!?" Sax spoke up

"Nah, I am good." Ryella still couldn`t understand after all these years how Max changed himself when he had other people, namely bosses or friends, around him. It`s like he turned into a more difficult man to deal with. Ryella, however, stood her ground. She still loved Max no matter what she did. He was the only person that truly loved her and she wanted to make the most out of these goodbyes.

"Psst, Ryella, could you give these to the redhead avox in the train?" Sax said handing her a mini bag of drugs.

"Oh-Oh okay." Usually, Ryella would talk and talk, but right now she wasn`t feeling like she wanted to talk to anyone. No one except Max

"Max, I-"  
"Yes, sexy girl?" Ryella frowned

"Don`t call me that."

"OHHHHHHH" Said all the other three boys. "RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS!"

Max raised an eyebrow at this.

"Bro, Max, you got to show her who is the man."

"Yeah, Max, tell her who should be in the kitchen."

"Maxim, slap that bitch!"

Max looked shocked. "I-I-"

"Yeah Max, slap that nasty bitch!"

"Max, slap that ass!"

"Destroy that booty!"

Ryella felt a hand punch her in the face in that moment. But she didn`t care. She still loved her boyfriend. He was just being pressured to do something he didn`t want to do. And she was okay with it, because Max loved her.

The peacekeepers arrived soon after, and Sax, Lace and Corn left fastly, Max tried to stay behind.

"I love you, don`t forget that." Max kissed her forehead.

"Time to leave kiddo." Said the peacekeeper behind the door.

"I love you too." Said Ryella. And it didn`t matter to her that Max will probably mock her or cheat on her in a party his friends make, or that he will be high and might forget about her for a while.

That all didn`t matter, cause Ryella felt loved.


	10. Introductions Five: Ride on The Train

_**Fernanda Aleksandrovich, District Two Female (18)**_

* * *

Fernanda was exhausted.

She had been preparing all day for this and now… she knew even more that this was what she wanted. She needed to win the games to restore her reputation and her honor as a woman, and not be a liar anymore.

She couldn´t say the things she said before anymore. People would destroy her if she did.

"You are that girl." her district partner said. Neither she or Hero had been the selected, and in the crowd, you could see the trainers of the academies and the victors enraged at this. Iona and Spear were going to get in serious trouble for not being able to volunteer like they did.

Hero´s eyebrows flinched as the answer came. "What girl?" Fernanda had been trying to lay low until she volunteered. If she died, her reputation would be game over, but at least she wouldn´t be hearing those voices, not only in the district but also in her head, calling her slut and a tramp.

"The girl who called out rape." Tension filled the air, and for a moment, eternal silence was about to fill it too. Hero Cessar and Fernanda Aleksandrovich were in a silence contest, which one would be the next to talk about the forbidden subject, who would the bravest to do so?

"If you are going to attack me," Apparently Fernanda won the contest. "I think you should save it. I know what I did was wrong and tarnishing that incredible man´s reputation was a bad, ugly thing, and that there is no way I can fix my past. I just need to work on my image and-"

"I actually think that what you did was good." Hero´s smile flashed into the room, and for Fernanda that couldn´t be trusted. No one had ever told her that apart from her mother and Esther, and they were tailored to support her no matter what, as her creator and her best friend were. They had established roles in her life, and that meant that anybody else couldn´t be trusted with their words.

Her mother. For a moment she had forgotten about her in this whole discussion of her pride. She can´t move, and until Esther goes to take care of her she won´t know who are the tributes. She never watches television, not since she saw her father´s new marriage being proclaimed on that screen.

"Thanks." Fernanda knew she couldn´t trust him. How is she going to try to play her now? Is he planning to kill her as the gong sounds, as the tribute from One did in the past quarter quell to his own brother? Who knows?

"My sister almost was raped to a pervert once, when we didn´t live in the Academy. Sick fuck."

Fernanda wanted to laugh at that, to tell him that men in power always are right that people like them, poor and women, couldn´t do anything about it. That since he was here, men were going to take his sister away, and she wouldn´t be able to do anything about it.

But she didn´t. She stayed in silent, until the escort came, announcing that their mentors would show up soon. She was worried. How the others victors would take her into account since she accused one of their co-mentors, of _that._

She couldn´t comprehend why any of them would be nice to her, but she wasn´t expecting what she saw.

Vagos Adamir, the man accused of doing the unspeakable by the now tribute, standing in front of her.

"Hi, Fernanda." He said posing a smirk on his face. "Are you surprised to see me?"

"N-No, Va-Vagos." Fernanda was trembling and shaking, but it was like no one noticed. "In-In Fact I am ha-happy."

Vagos smiled profoundly. That´s what he usually did when he was in power, what it happened all the time.

"Me and Tiano we will be mentoring both you" He said pointing to the victor next to him. Both had achieved winning the games at 13 years old, only that Vagos had always been more loved for his natural charismas and leadership skills than Tiano, who seemed kind of skittish for District Two.

She couldn´t look at Hero, but she hoped he felt like her.

Fearful.

"So." Tiano said. "Do you want to mentored together or separately?"

The answer came instantly, but not from Fernanda´s mouth, or from Vagos´ voice.

"Me and Fernanda will like to be mentored together by the both of you, thank you."

Fernanda felt thankful for a moment, but then she kept her emotions at bay. Why should she be thankful of that? Does Hero think she needs company from him?

"Okey." Vagos looked a lot more disappointed now. Fernanda felt terrified for a reason unknown to her. She couldn´t comprehend why she was shaking, or why nobody said anything about that. She felt in utter and complete panic.

After the strategy talk and reassuring that both of them will be in the career alliance, both of them mentors left, but not before Tiano uttered some words to Fernanda.

"You are lucky girl. It´s looks like Vagos forgave you for that incident. He wanted to mentor you all by himself."

* * *

_**Duchenne Lignin, District Seven Female (16)**_

* * *

"Why are you looking at me like that, you twat?"

Duchenne looked at her district partner. He was just a young boy, and from the zero cries from the crowd from when she was reaped, she assumed she had no one to take care of him. She reminded him of herself when the times were bad, and both of her parents had been gone from the world.

She misses them both so much.

The boy in front her looked angry and very undisciplined, but that´s what happens when your parents die suddenly. She had been like once, terrified, paranoid and weak, not knowing what to do and wanting to die in the inside, and just cry, cry and cry. She was still like this somehow to this day.

But she wasn´t going to let that get in her way of this.

"I am looking at you, Ralio." She said. "Don´t you remember me?"

"Ye-Yeah, I remember you. From just some minutes ago, dumbass!"

Duchenne laughs. Oh, how much Evelyn would have helped this kid. She was a beauty, of a person and in body, and she was like an angel that came to her life after´s Maddie´s death. She never got to tell her what she truly wanted with her, and Duchenne would never be able to get what she wanted.

A ki-

"What are you looking at, girl?!" Ralio was being panicky at level unseen by the human being in the entire existence of earth, or at least that Duchenne had seen.

"Could you stop repeating that and concentrating on the task?" They were supposed to watch the reapings, since their mentor had been busy doing "something" and their escort was probably binging one of the soap operas the Capitol had on TV. Why couldn´t they more appropriate for their task and do something right goddamnit? They were their tributes!

The recap had reached their district, and she herself, as her name got called, and her looking everyone, looked to see if Evelyn was okay, that she wasn´t going to do anything rash, and then walked to the stage, head going down and up, down and up, in the never ending cycle of life.

Ralio was up there, getting there by getting dragged by his feet to the stage, one shoe getting off in a "getting the merchandise where it should be", as the peacekeepers once told her Maddie´s body was getting thrown into trash with the corpses, and getting burned in the district´s corpse bonfire, which happened each week, and now it happens is day!

Duchenne chuckles at the stupidity of her thought. Many conquerors, commanders, and generals had been ruthless, but not as much as the capitol was now. She was slowly forgetting the history behind the world, the past discoveries of fire, of iron weapon making, and she couldn´t let the thoughts of that of Rome get away from her.

She just couldn´t. Then the peacekeepers and their "Fahrenheit 451" attempt of burning history down to the grounds would be rendered for nothing.

When the reaping recaps ended, words were spoken.

"So, what do you think of the other tributes, Ralio?" Now he seemed calmer for reason. Like if he had just taken a drug and the purity of her anxiety had been taken away by angels in the sky.

"What did you say about remembering me?" Ralio seemed a lot more grown up now, not just a terrified kid. It was like a much older man had taken his coat and stole the rest of his clothes and turned into him, in some way.

"I remember you from your mother. Once, while my mother was dying of cancer, she went nuts and begged your mother to give her, to give the Capitol cure to it. Rose," Ralio´s eyes flinch hardly at Duchenne´s saying "didn´t have any of it and never had, but at she gave him some pain meds and send her to us. My mother said she was sorry for interrupting her dinner with her lovely son Ralio when she was her one day in the street with you, before she couldn´t walk anymore." Ralio has gone full on silence, and Duchenne can only keep speaking. "I heard your mother died, are you-"

"You know nothing! Shut up!" Ralio has gone from silence to disaster, as he screams his lungs. "Shut up!" he looks at Duchenne one more time. His voice sounds deeper this time.

"I SAID SHUP UP!"

Ralio runs to his room, and Duchenne is left wondering how it all went wrong so quickly.


	11. Introductions Six: There is no Escape

_**Ace Sharai, District Three Female (15)**_

* * *

"Fucking shit!" Ace threw some glass to the window and promptly broke them both.

"What the hell are you doing?" Moghan, meanwhile was trying to get her not to break through the window.

"I need to get out!" Ace was desperate for a break out. Sure, she knew her chances were off and slim, but she needed to get the fuck out of this fucking train with destination to Death City and be able to get out of the games.

Moghan grabbed her legs and pulled from below. "I won´t let you!"

Ace struggled to break free, and it had been only Moghan´s corpse like hands, she would have been able to. But then of the avoxes came along, and pulled her down.

Her battle had ended. She was gonna die. She will have no one remember, except this stupid Avox who will remember her as the girl so desperate that she tried to break out and made her life day even more difficult.

Great. Exactly what she needed.

"How could you try that?" Moghan screamed at her. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Don´t talk to me like you wouldn´t have tried if I hadn´t." Ace knew she knew everything about this boy. Son of the mayor of their hometown, obviously a preppy kid who thought she was better than her for being an orphanage child. She hated him, because of how he was so much better than in her wealth and parents, but every time she saw him and his mother visit the orphanage he looked like he hated being alive. How could he do that, after having everything a person could want? Parents, house, wealth.

And even more, he was _thin. _And not thin because of how little he had to eat like her, no, he looked _extra_ skinny. Like if he had been depraved of food or something. Ace hated that he was so ungrateful that he didn´t even eat food. How much food he had wasting, only to thin look thin, for the girls most likely.

Or it could the boys too, but she wouldn´t be able to know, unless…

While the avox was cleaning the broken glass on the floor, Ace went and kissed Moghan.

Moghan pushed her away at the instant in happened. "What the fuck Ace?"

"Oh, I guess I know now."

"Know what?"

"Oh, nothing." She stopped speaking for a second. "Only that you are gay."

In that moment, Ace felt something in her lips again. A mouth touching with her own mouth.

Something she didn´t need.

She pushed away Moghan, roles reversed, and was the one to speak next. "And what was _that_?"

"Do I seem gay to you now?" Moghan´s face was a face of resentment, and the type of face that says "Fuck you", but also "You know that I am right, don´t you?"

"Well no." She said while the Avox looked at them weirdly. "But you look very desperate."

Moghan didn´t like the joke, but in Ace´s opinion he didn´t appear to be taking it by heart.

"So, what´s your deal, Ms. Tries to Climb Out of Windows?" Moghan looked at her straight in eyes. Not many people have done it before.

"Oh, nothing" Ace said while rolling her hair. "I just I read books, stay on my own, and punch once every... a lot"

Moghan chuckled at her statement, that´s a first Ace thought. Not much people laugh with her, most people preferring the at rather than the with.

"Oh yeah, who do you punch that much?"

Ace thinks of some of her enemies. Jaden Ryan, the bulk of the orphanage. Margarita Dyll, the little girl who thinks that Ace is worse than her. Virgil Cabal, the most stuck-up kid in the world. Ace thinks it would be a good idea to mess with Moghan´s head and talk about Virgil.

"You know, I really like to punch this guy" And so she talks about it. "He is the richest guy in the district, even more than the mayor, so you may know him-"

"You mean Virgil? He is my cousin."

Now she hates this guy even more.

"You know" Moghan continues. "He was talking about rigging the reapings. I don´t know if he truly did it, but-"

Moghan can´t continue speaking, cause Ace jumps on him, ready to end him.

* * *

_**Hermes Stallion, District Six Male (17)**_

* * *

Hermes remembers her.

He remembers the girl in front him. Sure, at first, he didn´t recognize her from nowhere, but after a while he truly was reminded of her.

_The fair was getting all right. There hadn´t been any shootings in three days, and people were finally happy to go to the carnival. Hermes´s stand was full of people waiting for being magical, so to speak. _

_But the girl who cut line and wasn´t making it difficult for the rest._

"_How come you can´t make me the next volunteer for the games?" Hermes couldn´t comprehend this girl, did she thought she had the power to do that? He was just a street magician, not a true magician. And he didn´t think people bought into his acts so much. _

"_I can´t kill another girl just for your own benefit, whoever you are."_

"_My name is Bex. Bexley Hartwell. And I don´t think you are a real magician then." She turned around from him and to the crowd. "This guy is not a real magician! He is a fake out, he- oww!" She turned around again, to see Hermes holding a voodoo doll, and pinching it in the back. _

"_He is real!"._

"_He is a true magician!" _

"_He gives me hope!"_

_People were praising him, and soon the girl was off reach to be seen, but she was to be heard._

"_I will show you, Hermes Stallion! I will show them what you really are!"_

_That night, he thanked her sister and assistant Mercury for throwing the rock for him. _

And now, here they were, the two of them, both going to the hunger. One by fate, one by decision.

Bexley hadn´t been looking at before he started looking at her, trying to recognize something he didn´t know he had to recognize. But now, she was staring straight at him now.

"What are you looking at, Hermes?"

"Yeah." He said. "What am I looking at?"

Bex´s face turned into one of anger now. "How dare you say that?!"

"What?" He tried to speak more but then Bexley kicked him in the stomach and he was rendered him useless. "Why?"

"Because of what happened in your stand." She smirked. "You are lucky that Carla didn´t want to volunteer anymore."

Since Yarvis Amazalen´s victory in the 98th, District Six had gained his own training center. Yarvis was an avid athlete and also a hunger games victor, and wanted to keep all the citizens possible safe from the games. Sadly, for the Capitol, no one who had used it went to the games till the 105th, where a brave girl called Melisa Menrique volunteered to bring money and food for their poor family. Since her victory, a lot of kids had taken the chance to volunteer and win, but only three people were able to come back home alive doing so. Holland Masters, Gavriel Asterion and Santos Rodriguez.

"And why I am lucky now?" Hermes said, trying to recover for the deed.

"Oh nothing." Bexley said putting her hands on her hips. "Only that I will sure that when you die by my hands, it´s softly and painless." Hermes´s internal fear began running around his head, but he didn´t let himself show that. "Oh, you know, because I am great gal and all"

"Did your parents turn into this?" Bexley´s fear was showing. "I bet they didn´t raise you well. I bet I have better biological parents better than you, even though mine are dead. I bet-"

"Shut up!" Bex throw him to the wall, and in the process broke some glasses. "You don´t know me, you don´t know my past, so fuck the hell off"

Bexley stormed off. Hermes smiled. He had hit a nerve without thinking he would.


	12. Chariots: Another Day Gone By

_**Chariots**_

* * *

_**Noir Skoria, District Twelve Male (18)**_

* * *

Noir didn`t like this.

He wished he could have not made gone to this part of the games, but here is he is. In the prep room, waiting for his prep team.

He has positioned himself not be looking up, and his whole body is looking to the floor. It`s a bit boring, but safe.

Nothing could-

"Turn around boy." A member of his prep team said. "We need to wax you."  
"No."

"Okey- What did you just say?"

"I said, No!" He didn`t look at them. He didn`t want to turn around just to spite in their faces.

"Okey, then." The member of his prep team turned around. "Camila, Soria, turn him around."

"Wait!" Noir wanted to scream. They would hate him for it like everyone has. They would give him a bad outfit for it, he would get no sponsors, and die of starvation. He didn`t want that at all "Please no!" He tried to fight back, but it was useless. Soon enough he was looking up. With his little friend exposed.

Noir started to cry. He didn`t want this to happen. He just volunteered to become a man, and now he was going be hummilated and called a woman again.

The member of his prep team who had talked to him before spoke.

"Camila, Soria. Start waxing him."

Noir flinched for a second. "Wait, aren`t you going to say something about…. It."

One of the girls spoke up. "Oh, Sergio. Look at this pure smol bean."

Sergio didn`t laugh. "Shut up Camila. We got work to do."

They started working on him as they spoke. The third person in the room, probably Soria, started talking.

"Cami, remember when you wanted that guy to fuck you, but he had that surgery to become agender and didn`t have a vagina or a dick?"

"Yeah. It was pretty hard for me seeing that the person I wanted so much to fuck me didn`t have a sexual organ to do love with me."

Noir was shocked. "Wait. People in the capitol pay for people to remove their sexual organs?!" Noir was enraged. People here wanted to become him, and he couldn`t understand why people liked to be like him. He wanted to shake those people and make them understand how painful that would be for him, and that it would suck for sure. Hell, people were laughing about at them right now.

"Don`t listen to them kiddo."

"Why not? We are glorious" Camila said freeing her hair from a ponytail.

"Just… Fuck off"

Noir was then, still confused, send to the main stylist for him.

He knew he had seen this person somewhere. He had seen them on TV some time ago, promoting their book, "The Dead Have a Voice". He hadn`t been able to read it, cause District Twelve, but he had been wanting to. It seemed like an interesting case of life.

After all, he was still alive due to the president`s failed experiment.

"So." The stylist said. "Camila couldn`t stop blabbing about it. Are you safe?"

"Wha-What?"

"I asked if the person who did that to you was still near you back home."

Noir looked down. He wished so much that part of him had never cut off from him, as he would still be a man otherwise.

"Was it your mom? I had a bad one myself."

"N-No, she is dead."

"So, your dad then?"

Noir weakly nodded. What was he doing talking with Chickadee Toulson about his problems? He was faced by this.

"He isn`t near me anymore."

"Good. I will report to the authorities."

"WAIT NO!" Noir didn`t want that all.

"Why not?"

"I mean, do it, but no one must find out about me."

Chicadee nodded.

"i guess you would like to be dressed right now."

"Yeah."

Noir quickly dressed on his canary outfit and went outside to the chariots.

Amy was waiting for him there

"Are you okay?" Amy said while holding the fake pickaxe on her hands. Her miner outfit was meh, but it was still there.

Noir could feel everyone watching him. And he was going to have something going on until…

"Hello." The District Six Male said to him.

"Hi." Noir said abruptly. Why was this boy talking to him, had he found out about him and wanted to mock him?

"You are cute" Hermes said and run away to his chariot

_What the hell was that?_

* * *

_**Blandus Hale, First Man of Panem.**_

* * *

Blandus was waiting for him.

It was unnatural for the president´s partner to not appear with him in the chariots, but he got other business to attend.

He just needed to find Silvius between the crowd.

The chariots were going to start soon, and he needed to find to talk what they needed to talk.

He searched and searched. He needed to find. He said he was going to be wearing some colorful clothes.

_Big description, Silvius. Everyone is wearing colorful clothes._

He decided to just sit on the bleachers. If dyed his hair and his skin could make him pass as someone else… hopefully he hadn´t needed to change his face or something.

Lorenzo started blabbing something as soon the chariots would start rolling. Something about all the tributes being super ugly or something.

Someone touched him from behind.

"Sil-"

"Oh, sorry" said the girl. "I am just looking for my dad. Sorry."

As the girl left, Blandus thought of his own children. What would they think, if they knew he was going behind his husband´s back and lying to him? Sure, it was to help him, but what if he found out? Would Fabian be mad at him? Would he see it as a betrayal? Would he still love him?

_Of course, he would. _Blandus knew he couldn´t let these thoughts interfere with his plan. He needed to find Myriad´s murderer. If not, Fabian could still be at risk.

"Hello." A voice sounded from behind.

It was Silvius. He hadn´t done much to his appearance, apart from dressing a bit more fancily.

"What are you doing?!" Blandus had no time for politeness. "Why didn´t you disguise yourself?"

Silvius laughed at Blandus´ remark. "Oh, please. I don´t need to hide, unlike someone else here."

Blandus glared at him. "Sit down. Next to me. The Chariots are starting soon."

Silvius complied. "So… I guess you want to know what information I could find."

"Well, obviously."

The two fell on silence.

"So, what information _do _you have?"

Silvius looked at him. "Well. I found out that before the case got closed with supposed no leads, someone had said that they had found a DNA evidence on the lead."

"So… I don´t need you now?"

Silvius glared at him. "Sadly, you still have to pay me, because apparently there were so many DNA Samples from blood there, apparently many murders and sex events had happened in that rooftops, that they could not separate any samples from each other."

"Yeah… But I already knew that. They had been presented all over the news when before the case was shut up." Blandus flinched his hair. "Where is the great news investigator I always saw on the news?"

Silvius glared harder. "Can you just let me speak for once?" He was pretty angry. It was something normal in him, but Blandus hadn´t seen much of him, so he didn´t know how to react and stayed quiet. "That was the theory, that it was done in a nearby building. But then I realized, how would have the sniper had gotten away with such a precision and no seen him, even with the mess that happened in the Mansion and the surroundings when Myriad was killed."

"What are you getting at?"

"Do you know the Jamaica Building?"

"Everyone does. It´s the tallest building in Panem."

"And you the story of it?"

"How it was started as a financial center, but then the zone started slowly losing popularity so they moved the avoxes in the zone?"

"Yeah… That one." Silvius chuckled. "Well, anyways. That place is the best to see the city from. Some people say that you could even see District One from there."

"So…. Oh."

"Yeah. I went to take a sample from the rooftop, and there it was. A dry, red mark, just there. For me.

"How convenient."

"Yeah it was pretty convenient." Said Silvius ignoring Blandus´ comment. "I send it to a private lab for testing. It should be out soon."

Before they could continue speaking, loud noises and roars had started to appear.

"AMIGOS, OH MY AMIGOS, I HAVE ENLIGHTED TO TELL THAT THE CHARIOTS HAD STARTED!"

Lorenzo was always this loud? It didn't seem so when he and his husband and kids were in the presidential mansion and they saw it all from the window.

"OH MY GOD, HERE COMES DISTRICT ONE. THE TWO OF THEM ARE HORRENDOUS AND UGLY, DRESSED IN SHINY DRESS AND TUXEDO, FOR CHLORIS AND MIDAS RESPECTIVELY. I can´t wait to see them die!" Chloris started shouting at him, while Midas stayed quiet.

"And then comes District Two. Two non-selected volunteers, doing what non-selected volunteers do… SUCK ASS. They are dressed as Captain Panem and SuperSnow! What a disgrace to the original story." Fernanda looks hurt by the comment, and Hero shows Lorenzo the finger.

"District Three, the district of snobs. Moghan is dressed as some weird snob, and Ace is dressed as his random assistant. How boring. WE NEED ACTION BABY." Ace and Moghan both ignore the comment.

"How can anyone like this?" Said Silvius as Lorenzo told the District Four tributes that been dressed as fish was not original. "It must suck for the tributes in there."

"You have to remember; they are not people. They are just tools for us." Blandus was sure of his affirmation. After all, it was the Capitol way to act.

"District Five. The district of Power. And oh, they are dressed as nuclear plants workers! These stylists are wanting me to roast them!"

"The tributes from the next district aren´t looking good. After all, they are dressed as gasoline tanks. Literally. At least this is weirdly original? I don´t really care. Fuck Hermes and Bexley, am I right?"

Lorenzo continued to talk about how trashy the costumes were. The District Seven´s dressed as leaves, District Eight dressed as factory workers. Ryella and Miller dressed as corn, the peacekeeper of Ten dressed in a peacekeeper outfit, making like she was shooting her district partner, who was dressed as "WANTED" poster, with a fake gun.

"I can´t stand this anymore. I will see you when I have more information Blandus." Silvius said as he got up and left, as the District Eleven started getting cheered on by being dressed as sexy fruit.

"Okey. I should go as well." Blandus said. He stayed a little more to watch the District Twelve chariots, only to be disappointed by them being dressed as coal miners.

This was always the same.

* * *

_**Wraith Devlin, District Four Male (17)**_

* * *

Wraith didn`t want to do this.

He didn`t want to do this at all.

But he had to. It was the only way to survive

_Hi, _He signaled to the to other members of the career pack.

He and Opal hadn`t gone to talk to them before, Opal clearly citing; "They should come for us, not us for them." But then, when it was clear that wasn`t going to happen, both of them reluctantly went to talk to talk to the tributes of District One, District Two and Bex.

Opal continued to glare at them, trying to make some kind of stance and show her annoyance at them, but that clearly wasn`t working.

"Well, look who we got here. The youngie and the mute kid." Midas was certainly being an ass right now, and both Opal`s and Wraith`s face could show that. "My bad. I didn`t want to sound like an ass. I just wanted to prove a stance. Sorry guys."

Opal clearly didn`t like what Midas was saying, but she sucks it up. Or at least it seemed so until she snapped.

"Just because I am younger than all of you doesn`t mean that I am useless! Hero is only a year older than all me! So don`t act like you are better than me, you twats!"

As she left, Chloris told the others she would go on and get her, and ordered Bex to accompany her. She reluctantly agreed and left with her.

Wraith then signaled to the others something.

_What a piece of shit, right?_

Midas laughed. "I don`t know what the hell you said, but I am gonna pretend it was something like "those fucking whores!"

Hero glared at him. Fernanda looked down.

"Oh, sorry again. Just had bad experiences with women."

"Well," Hero started. "Maybe you should be nicer. You don`t know what problems people have gotten into that could affect them, you know?"

Midas looked dubitative. "What problems do you mean?"

Fernanda signaled something to Wraith.

_Could you do something to shut them up?_

And in that moment, Wraith slapped Hero. Midas laughed. Then he got slapped too

"What the hell man?" Midas was upset.

_She told me to do something about it._

"I-I" Fernanda was distraught. "I just didn`t want so much scandal in our alliance, you know? We can fracture ourselves more than we are. Go Career team!" She said, obviously trying to make better a situation that was unsolvable.

"It`s okay Fer, Just- "

"Don`t call me Fer!"

"Did Vagos call you like that?"

"Vagos, the victor? You are damn lucky girl. Having sex with a victor must be the best."

"Shut it, Midas!"

"Shut _you _up, obviously poor kid. Did your parents abandon you or something?"

That moment, it seemed like a fight was about to start. And it was only matter of time if it did. So while he was surprised, he wasn`t so much when Fer grabbed the pen he had in his hand and started drawing on his face.

_What is she doing? _He thought, but It was obvious. Hero and Midas looked at her, and then, as she drew a dog, or what she must have thought it was a dog, Hero laughed. And after a moment so did Midas.

"That`s the way you draw?" He said and grabbed the pen. "Here, let me do it better."

And so they spent a while drawing in each other`s faces. Hero draw a horse in Midas`s, Midas drew a unicorn in Fernanda`s and Wraith, who was cataloged as best artist, draw a picnic in Hero`s.

By the time they were finished, they were on D2`s floor and having wine. Fernanda didn`t want any, and just drank coffee, but the guys drank all of two bottles.

They were, for a moment, happy.


	13. Training Day One: Training Love

_**Before Training Day 1**_

* * *

Kory didn´t know what to say.

He surely didn't know what to say.

He had gone and left a few samples of his own blood to match with anyone in Panem. He knew he was a son to someone, but he didn't know to who. So he had gone and left it there for a few days, and know he had come back to this.

_His parents were dead?_

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well…" The doctor said. "Usually we don't do things this way, but since you are pretty wealthy, i will tell you. Your relative" Kory had told him it was a relative that he was trying to search, far far away, but he didn't tell him that it was actually a close one.. "Was a tribute in the Hunger Games."  
Kory was shocked. He didn't know what to say.

"Which games had he gone into?" Kory had hoped it was someone nasty from the capitol, so he had someone to hate for giving him away to the districts, someone he could hate with all his heart and go back to his adoptive father and be happy with him.

But he couldn´t. Now, he had no one to search for. It was probably his father who had been in a game. Maybe his mother was still alive. Maybe…

"Which games was he in and who was it?"

"Well, apparently from what it has in files, mister Abancam." His fake name, he had used it from a magician he had seen one when he was a child. "He was a tribute in the 100th Hunger Games, the Centennial."

"But wait… weren't those games were two family members went in together?"

"Yes, they were. So, congrats mister Abancam, you have a confirmed alive relative."

"Who?" He said looking calmly but dying to know in the inside.

"Well, obviously the victor of the games, since he was a relative too. Hans Miner."  
_What? Hans Miner is my relative?_

Kory tried to remember everything he knew about those games. He didn't know much, but he knew that the District Twelve mentor had gone in with his brother-in law.

_That means… Hans Miner is my uncle. _

"I gotta go!" Kory ran away, with the papers on his hand. He knew where he had to go now.

Meanwhile, in the room next door, someone else got a match with Hans. But in a very different manner.

Silvius had heard everything from the door room. Apparently this place didn't do much for noise muting, and he heard everything.

And now he also knew what he was up to. He knew what Hans did.

So someone was getting followed.

**_Training Day One_**

* * *

_**Fernanda Aleksandrovich, District Two Female (18)**_

* * *

Fernanda was in a base.

"What do you mean we have to let him in?" Opal´s scream rang through the training room. She seemed so pissed to the fact that Chloris had convinced an outer district into the alliance.

"It's for the best, Opal." Chloris had told her. Fernanda looked at Chloris and saw someone who had a leadership in her. Someone who had the strength to do whatever it took to get the alliance to the end. Fernanda admired her. Fernanda wanted to be as brave as she was. Fernanda wanted to be that person.

_Why though? Why do you want to be someone else?_

Fernanda hated her brain. She was proud of herself, she knew she was a good person and that, alongside being strong, was what made a good her a good career.

_Are you strong enough to beat this games?_

"Yes, i am." She said preparing to practice throwing knives to a target in point.

_Are you strong enough for your family?_

She threw a knife and missed

_Are you strong enough for yourself?_

She threw a knife and it landed in the edges of the target

_Are you strong enough to beat Vagos and be yourself?_

The knife she threw kept going and almost landed on a little boy´s head.

The boy looked in fear and went to another station.

"Are you okay?" Chloris had come near her, looking worried for her.

"I-I am fine."

"Are you sure?"

Fernanda looked at her. Chloris seemed so brave yet so smart and perceptive. She knew she was feeling bad and wanted to help.

"It is because i let Kristoph in the alliance?"

"No it's because of that I-I" Fernanda wanted to say something, she wanted to seek help, but she didn't know for what she needed that help. She was feeling like she was trapped in a maze, and there was no way out.

"It's okay Ferni… It´s-"

"Don't call me Ferni"

"Why?"

"_It's okay Ferni." Vagos said as Fernanda screamed for someone to come help her. "It was you dream, right? To be with me. All the signs that you gave me, all for this one night of pleasure."_

_Fernanda kicked him in the balls and tried to run away, but Vagos grabbed her by the foot and dragged next to him again._

"_You bitch! I was trying to make it easier for you! Now come here!"_

"I… just don't like that nickname. You can call me Fer. Like my mother tells me"

"Oh that's so cute." Chloris looked like she wanted to ask something, but didn´t know what it was or how do it.

"I was wondering… if you wanted to join us girls over there?"

Fernanda could see through it. Chloris didn't want just some "girl" time, she wanted to form an alliance of others girls within the career alliance.

"Hmmmm." In one hand, she would gain a lot of power and would be assured of a good spot in the alliance. On the other hand, she didn't want to be "last to join" link in the alliance. Because if the boys found out, she would their first target, and the weakest link within the girl to ditch.

"Hmm, no thanks.."

* * *

**_Ryella Aral, District Nine Female (16)_**

* * *

Ryella was having a hard time.

Deciding between what to practice was definitely a hard thing to do. When she was back home she had her boyfriend tell her what to wear, what to do.

It was too hard to do things by herself.

She finally decided to go do some fire starting. She needed to know how to start a fire in case the arena was cold.

She tried to do with the rocks. She smashed them together. But for some reason it wasn´t working.

"Here." A boy said behind her. He started to smash them together and it worked."Those are harder to start a fire with, choose these ones instead." He said pointing to other rocks.

Ryella, however, wasn't paying attention to that. The boy in front of her, the boy who was trying to teach her how to start a fire and how to keep herself warm, was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

"Are you gonna respond to me?" the boy said.

"Nono, i mean yes! Than you."

The boy smiled. "Thanks for telling me that. Not many people in Panem will thank you for your actions."  
"Well, i guess i am one of the good ones" Ryella said giggling.

"I am Moghan." The boy took his hand for her to shake it. "Moghan Seller, from District Three."

For an instant as she shaked his hand, Ryella had forgotten her name at such beauty she was betholding in front of her.  
"And you are?"

"Oh, right, sorry." Said Ryella getting her face red. "I am Ryella Aral, District Nine."

"Nice to meet you." Moghan exclaimed. "And.. you?"

"Oh, yeah, it's nice to meet me too."

Ryella felt like she had crapped herself for an instant. Moghan looked angry. What was she going to say now?

Then Moghan laughed. Ryella felt worried still. What if he was gonna hit her? Max would hit him for even talking to her, but he would do it with love. He would did everything with love.

_Do you even love your boyfriend if you are laughing with another man?_

Ryella felt at unease then. What if Max found out she was talking to other guys she found attractive and laughing? He wouldn't like that.

"Sorry, i gotta go" Ryella said nervously. She was standing up when Moghan spoke.

"Wait! I wanted to ask you something."

Ryella felt worried, but still asked. "What is it?"

"I was wondering… Do you want to ally with me?"

_No, i don't want to. I have a boyfriend._

But her mouth wouldn't say that. Instead, she said something else.

"Yes:"

* * *

**_Hermes Stallion, District Six Male (17)_**

* * *

Hermes was enticed by this person.

This guy was something else, he said to himself. Most of the time Hermes had been attracted to feminine people, whatever it was drag queens, femme women, or just flamboyant and delicate people in general.

But this one guy, he was something else. It was obvious he was trying to be feminine in some capacity. Otherwise, how can you get someone as delicate looking at this person.

He needed to talk to him. He needed to do it now.

He walked up to him, and said:  
"Hi!" he said to Noir.

"Hi." said Noir in his delicate voice.

"I am Hermes."

"I know that."

"And you are Noir."

"Right."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to know what it is?"

"Ok."

"I wanted to ask you… do you want to ally with me?"

Noir looked at, finally since the moment Hermes had gone to talk to him.

"No."

Hermes wasn't shocked. He knew this would have to be done with some convincing.

"Well, i think we would make a wonderful team."

"Oh, yeah you think that?"

"Yes i do. With my charisma we would get a lot of sponsors."

"You think?"

"Yeah. And with your skills that you obviously had because you volunteered, we can get to the end, don´t you think?"

"Maybe…"

"Come on, man. I know it. I know we can do it"

"Hmm, okay."

Hermes flinched. "Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, fine. We can be allies."

_YES!_

"Cool. That´s cool." He said. "Cool. Co-cool. Coolio"

"Now, what´s is your plan?" Noir seemed like he was interrogating him. Testing him to know if he was a good prospect of an ally.

And he didn't really have a plan. All that he wanted was to ally with Noir, the attractive boy, and hang out around him. Sure, he wanted to live and survive the games obviously, but wouldn't he be able to enjoy himself in the meantime? That's what he wanted, enjoy life while he could, and that's what he was going to do.

But he knew he needed to come up with a plan, and fast. He needed to impress Noir.

"Well, you see, Noir. I think you can be assistant."

"Assistant? I don't want to be your slave." No, he was losing him. _Quick, do something!_

"I meant in my magic tricks."  
"Oh, you do magic?"

"Yeah, back in the district. But i lost all of my artifacts for it, so i can´t do it here."  
"Then why would it even matter to try?"

"Because if i tell them i can do magic, they will obviously sponsor me with artifacts for it, and i will shown them" Obviously that wasn´t through, and if it wasn't because Noir was kind of oblivious to that fact, Hermes´sweating would be obvious to him.

"Yeah. I can do that, Noir. And you will be my cute assistant."

_OOPS, it slipped. _

Noir looked up again. He looked into Hermes´ eyes and said

"Yeah, i would like that."

* * *

**_Electra Milani, District Eleven Female (18)_**

* * *

Electra was in a worrying place.

"Have you stopped looking over there and pay attention over these knots?" Shale was worried too. They had met before the games, yeah, but even though they were allied with each other that didn't mean they wouldn't _kill_ each other.

"Sorry, i was looking over there and go distracted, sorry."

Shale looked to the floor and spoke. "Yeah, i am worried too. But if we don`t do this things well, how we will learn them and able to do what we have to do in the arena to survive?"  
_What we have to do to survive. _Electra hadn't thought much about it. To be truthful, she hadn't thought much about anything. She was more worried of having at some point to see Shale die or for her to have to kill him in some way, that she hadn't thought much about the games and what they truly meant. What games she will have to play to survive the arena and be a victor.

Electra wanted to be a victor so bad. She wanted to be able to come home and see her family again, at least one more time, without having to die. She wanted to be able to live and seize the day without having to worry about being killed or killing. She wanted to be able to a human person again, and not a commodity for other people`s gains. In this moment, she hated the capitol so much. She wanted to see them burn to the ground. She wanted to explode the place herself.

"I hate this." She whispered.  
"What did you say?" Her ally inquired.

_Will i do this?, _She asked herself

WIll she vocal about her wants?

"I said" _Hell yeah i will. _"I said that i hate been here."  
Shale looked sad. "Okay, i do too."

Electra got angry. How dare he attempt to pretend he felt the same way, when he was going on as usual? How dare he make a mockery of her?

"Fuck you!" Shale looked shocked at her response. "Fuck you, and your personal gain with this. Fuck you for cooperating with the Capitol." She looked at him angrily. "Fuck you!"

She ran away in tears. She ran away because he had left her with no choice.

He was the bad guy here. He was the one who made her feel bad. He was the one who should be feeling bad, not her.

"Hey." Said a voice in the bathroom. "Will you keep your moaning down? I am trying to smoke a cigarette here!"

Electra came out of her stall. And there she was, the female tribute from District Five.

"What are you doing here?" She said to them. "I thought you were genderfluid."

"Yeah, but even though it`s a he day i can't come into the male room because i tried it and some trainers were talking there and i didn't want them to see me. It's a secret cigarette"

Electra wiped out her tears from her face. "And the unisex bathroom?"

"There is no window there to clean off my smoke, so i can't smoke there. Sorry, babe, you will have to deal with me."  
Even though Electra was sure he meant the word "babe" in a demeaning way, she liked that he had said it. Nobody had ever called her babe. Not in the way she had wanted it at least.

"What's with the sad face?" Breaker said. He kept looking up and down on her, inspecting her all over again for the third time. He wanted something, Electra knew it.

"Well, i got into a fight with my-"

"Yeah, yeah, i saw it happen. But why sad?"

"Well, like i said i got into a fight with my ally."  
"And?"

"And…" Electra didn`t know what to say. Breaker was right, there was no reason to be sad.

Breaker smiled. "Since your face tells that i have broken into your mind, i will see my work done and i will head out." He let the cigarette fall into to ground and stumped it.

"See you-"

"Wait!" Electra was confused. Did she really want to do this?"

"What?" Breaker said, arms crossed.

_Hell yeah._

"Do you want to ally with me?"

* * *

_Hope you liked the chapter!_


	14. Training Day Two: Degrees of Distance

_**Before Training Day Two**_

* * *

Hans was talking with a few sponsors when he showed up.

"I need to talk with you." The District Eight Mentor said to him.

"I am busy." he said. He was in a important call with a sponsor that might serve Amelia and Noir, he needed to do the call. And why was Kory Canters bothering him, nonetheless.

Then, the other mentor spoke the words that will flash him forever.

"I know you are my uncle."

Hans´s jaw was opened almost instantly, and for a second, he was muted. Even though he had tor respond the man in the call, he couldn´t.

"I got to go" he said to the sponsor on his phone. Hans was worried. Was it a trap to tell him off because of his doings when leaving the baby in another district? Which was illegal, of course.

"How do you know that?" He said, worried and vigilant to any person near him.

"Blood test." The other victor said. "I did one when i found out Willis- my adoptive father, was indeed my adoptive father."

Hans was preocupant. "How do you know you are saying the truth?"

"I got the papers right here." He said, glandly showing him the proof.

There, it said it all. How he was related to Xander, how he was his son. How much blood related they were.

"Wow." So the kid he left in an orphanage… ended up as a victor, like his uncle? This was unbelievable. He didn't think he will ever meet them, but here they were, alive, well and in the Capitol. "I suppose you have some questions."  
"Hell yeah I do." Kory seemed ready to ask them, and while Hans wasn`t ready to answer, he sure wanted to alleviate Kory`s parental anxiety.

"How did my mother die?"

"Akira, my sister, was a good woman. She always took care of me, even after our parents died. She loved Xander so much, and if he had survived the games, maybe she would have survived giving birth to you."

Kory`s face filled with angst as he grabbed his head. "So it's my fault she is dead?"

Hans didn't want to him to feel bad. He knew what it was to feel guilty about something, and did not want anyone who didn't deserve it feeling that way. "It's nobody's fault. But if it were, it would be mine for failing to save your dad from surviving the arena."

Kory started to cry. "I remember seeing on the recaps of previous games how he died. I didn't even knew he was my father, and one time i made a joke about murderous dolphins to my classmates. It's all my fault."  
"Shhh." It wasn't. "It`s okay. It's no one's fault."

Kory then leaned into Hans and went in for a hug. Hans didn`t know how to react to it. He hasn't hugged someone in a long time, and he had almost forgotten how to do it.

Almost. He went for it. He felt warm, and he felt Kory`s emotions fall over him. He felt his sadness, his anger, his guilt that shouldn't even be there. He felt everything. It was such a momentous for Hans, that he actually shed a tear in that moment. But he couldn`t let Kory feel it. He just couldn`t be weak to him. Not now, not ever.

"Did you abandoned me in the orphanage because you couldn't love me?"

_No, i was trying to protect you from me. _

"I just couldn't take care of you. I wouldn't have been a good father figure to anyone, and still can`t be it."

"I-I" Kory couldn`t find the words for what he wanted to say. It was like those words have been lost in his mouth and couldn't get out of his brain.

"Whatever you do or think about me, it's fine. I understand."  
"No, i actually wanted to ask you if you would like to hang out with me today." Kory hesitated. "So i can know something from my bloodline." Kory smiled for a second, and then dropped it. "It's okay if you refuse."  
Hans didn`t know what to say. If he refused, he would leave Kory feeling pretty terrible, and he didn't want that. On the other hand, he didn't want Kory to get attached to him in any way, seeing as he, himself, was a dangerous man.

But he realized Kory would eventually go back to Eight. So just a few days a year wouldn't be of harm.

"Okay."

_Right?_

* * *

_**Training Day Two**_

* * *

**_Hart Dallas, District Eight Male (14)_**

* * *

Hart was learning.

He was learning how to love Noleen better, or at least that was what she had told him when they were messing in the bathroom.

Now, in training he was lost. He already knew how to use a knife from dealing with the drug addicts his friends brought to their hangouts, so he didn't think he needed to learn any other weapon. So must of the time he did what Noleen wanted. If she wanted to try that cool bow, they did. If she wanted to run around the training room and pick on trainers, they would, And if she wanted to put her finger in private places in front of everyone else, he would let her. That's the only way he knew to do things, and he would do them right.

"Do you think we should try to do those new painting things over there?" It was camouflage, but Hart didn't say what it was.

"Okay." He said while being grabbed by the arm and pulled there.

There were other people in that station. Noleen would tell Hart after those people left that they were disgusting, no matter if they were a career or a twelve year old. She had no boundaries in regards on who to hate.

"Hi." One of the pair of people there said, "I am Moghan, and she is Ryella." The boy smiled at them, while the girl took a while to notice them and then waved at them.

"Hi." Hart said. He then promptly received an elbow to the back from his district partner. "Could you teach us?"

"Teach you what?" The girl said.

"Teach how do to camouflage."

"Oh, okay. I don`t know much but here, i will show you what i know…"

Ryella then proceed to show Hart how to paint over himself, like the trainer had thought her, and did a mildly good job with it. Hart loved painting when he was younger, so why not use it to his advantage in the arena?

When they were done, Hart thanked Ryella.

"Oh, don`t worry. Me and Moghan are just a pair of skilled dudes, completely platonic dudes." Moghan looked at her weirdly.

"Oh that's so cool!". Hart needed skills, or at least skilled by his side. Maybe… "Do you want-"  
Noleen then splashed some paint into his eyes.

"AHHHH!" Hart couldn`t see.

"Oh, you will be fine." Noleen said. Hart ran to the bathroom and splashed some water into his eyes. After what seemed like half an hour, he finally felt free.

When he turned around, Noleen was in front of him.

"Are you ready for more Umpa Lumpa?" Hart was distraught.

"I wanted to ask the guys something, where are they now?"

"Oh, those guys? I told them to leave because it was their fault that you ended up the way you ended?"

"What?"

"Yeah. If they hadn't distracted with their talk, i wouldn't have splashed your face with paint."

"But-"

"Don`t worry, Harty. Your WIlly Wonka is here for you."

Then she threw him into the stall and banged him.

No questions asked.

* * *

**_Midas Ellsworth-Price, District One Male (18)_**

* * *

Midas was annoyed.

He was more and more annoyed at the voice of the other careers. He didn't want to hear them anymore. He didn't want to hear their voices anymore. Opal`s bitching, Chloris` obvious manipulation, Hero and Fernanda talking and talking. The only one that were tolerable was Wraith, and he was mute.

He obviously didn't count Kristoph. He was an outlier and he didn't deserve to be in the alliance.

Midas didn't even want to be in the alliance in the first place. He just wanted to be left alone, win the games, and go back home to his "adoptive" father. He was enraged due to the fact he had to hang out with other people, and just wanted to be left alone.

The only people he would like to be around are his sister, Alabastor and no else. Once upon a time he would have loved to be with Ambrosia, but it was basically past his bedtime that idea. It would never be truthful anymore.

Then, he heard one scream more from Opal coming. And that was the moment he realized he had enough.

"I am leaving." He said.

"Oh, are you leaving for the bathroom?." The harpy said.

"No, Chloris. I said i am leaving."

"Leaving what?" Bexley said. For a moment he had even forgot she was there at all.

"I am leaving the alliance."

Fernanda looked up,looking worried.

"If you want some time off, you can always train on your own and come back later…"

"No." He said with fury. "i want to leave the alliance. And i will,"

All his ex-allies looked at him, and then at each other.

"Okay." Hero said. "If that's what you want, you can do it. We won't stop you."  
Midas felt slightly hurt, but he didn't know why. So then he just said "Fine" and left.

Midas didn`t know why he was feeling so hurt at being treated like that. He had gotten what he had wanted, right? So why did he felt like he was the one in the wrong and not them?

Them, who were devious and a death trap. Then who were evil and bloodthirsty. Them, who were maladjusted and vengeful.

Just like Ambrosia.

Midas was training when he felt a presence over him.

It was Wraith.

"What do you want?"

Wraith took up his notepad and wrote something. Then, he gave his notepad to Midas and left

Midas looked what he had written.

_Take this. You need it more than me._

* * *

**_Ace Sharai, District Three Female (15)_**

* * *

Ace was bored.

Ace wanted something to do, that wasn`t in a room with 23 of her potential murderers.

_Well, not all of them_, she thought to herself. Obviously the little kids wouldn't be able to murder. It if came to be, it will be most likely a career with their hands full of her blood.

_Hmmm, morbid much? _Ace laughed at her thoughts. Of course she was being morbid, she had been reaped for the hunger games. She was going to go in, do her best, maybe die, maybe win, who knew. She was going to try and do her best and there would be no stopping her once she was in the arena.

Ace had spent most of her time playing with knives. She knew she wasn't going to excel in any other weapon because she had never used them. Like, who thought a District Three kid could learn how to use a sword well in only three days of training. These Capitol kids were crazy. They didn`t know what it was to be hungry or to be in need of something truly. They were some Class A douchebags.

Ace looked at her district partner, who was spending his time with the District Nine girl, and she hated him. She didn't know why, but she had hoped he would follow him around like a leopard to a gazelle, but then when they entered the games the gazelle would leave him to die as the dumb, weak leopard he was.

But he wasn't doing that, and he had left her alone to herself. To be fair she liked being alone, she had always been alone, but it didn't mean that she didn't want to be with certain people for a certain amount of time.

She was walking through the training center when someone touched her from behind. Promptly, she slapped the person in the face.  
"Auch!" the girl wimped.

"Watch where you are going!" Ace told the District Twelve Female

"Sorry." The girl said. Then she pointed at another kid next her. "Me and Ernest just wanted to ask you something."

"What?" Ace said confusingly. "You are gonna ask how much is 2 plus 2?"

The boy who Amelia called Hernesto, she thinks, looked angry, but didn't say anything.

Amelia then continued. "We wanted to ask you to join our alliance."  
Ace looked at them shocked for a second. They were kidding, right? They couldn't have ask that to her.

"Do you think I will join your dumb alliance full of weaklings?" She said roughly.

"But we think you would-"  
"Save the speech. Who are you even allied with? The little boy from nine? The scaredy cat from seven?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Save it." Ace walked away, as Amelia continued to speak and tried to get attention, but it was worthless.

Ace didn't want to be with anyone. If she died, she wanted to die herself.

_And the only way to be yourself is to be alone, _she thought.

* * *

**_Duchenne Lignin, District Seven Female (16)_**

* * *

Duchenne was at a crossroads.

She knew she wanted to win, for Evelyn. She wanted to be able to tell Evelyn how she felt about her. She wanted to tell Evelyn how much she loved her. She wanted to run from the capitol, cross the depths ends of Panem, just to see to her again and tell her three simple words.

_I love you,_ she wanted to say them so bad, she wanted to go around and scream to the thousand skies about her predicament. She wanted to be with her friend one more time, just to tell her that.

But she knew she couldn`t, because no matter how she wanted or tried to escape, if she tried, she would be immediately eliminated from the story of Panem. Just like her parents were, and how much story was destroyed when those libraries were burned back in District Seven.

She had tried to get along with what she had left from there, but Ralio wasn`t the most candid and well-mannered boy you could find. She still tried though, and she will continue to try no matter what.

Leaving behind the knife throwing station, she decided that it was for the best to take some time off. She went to a wall and tried to relax as she sat down, but thoughts filled her head.

_Will i ever see Evelyn again? Will i ever see District Seven again? If i die, will i see my parents again? And Maddie, will i see her too? Will i win this games? Can i win them? Is it even possible for me to do it? Should i even try?_

Duchenne tried to punch them, but as she was going to, she realized she still had a knife on her hand.

She then had an idea.

She started carving the wall. She wanted to leave a mark, in case she didn't come back. She continued to make the form she wanted, with the letters she wanted, with the sign she wanted. This was a moment for herself and she would take it.

When she was done, she smiled for the first time since she arrived to the capitol.

It was heart. Inside it, it said _D + E_

"You really love her, don't you?"

Duchenne felt startled by that response to her doing that to the wall. She turned around to see the District Nine Male behind her.  
"It's just a drawing, okay. And how do you know she is a she?"

"I am pretty sure you just carved the wall forever. Also you just seem like the type, and i know one when i see one."  
"And how do you know that?"

"I know one because i am one."

Duchenne, then, for a reason unknown to her smiled. She felt happy that she was with someone she could trust, at least in this matter.

"Do you think she will ever love me?"

"I think she does, just that you couldn't see for yourself. I think she cares about you a lot, if not completely."  
"But does she love me, as in romantic love?"

Miller shrugged. "I think that's up to you to discover."

Duchenne then started to explain all her history to the little boy. How she lost her mother to cancer, and then her father to grief. How all her history books were destroyed by the capitol after their deaths, and how she had to live with the neighbor. How Evelyn was the only friend that stayed by her side after their death, and how much she loved her.

"Good thing that i didn't assume it was the girl from Eleven or Ernie."  
"You call him Ernie?"

"Yeah, he is my ally. Do you want to join us?"

Duchenne hesitated for a moment. Did she really want to do this?

"Yes, i do."


	15. Training Day Three: Score!

**_The Capitol_**

* * *

**_Before Training Day Three_**

* * *

Silvius knew what to do.

He had to confront them. He had to say something, get the stellar, get something out of him. He already knew the truth, he just had to get it out of them.

He had followed both victors for days. He had done everything in his power to get a clue out of their routines with each other, anything. But he just couldn't get it. And if he wanted to have the new news for himself before someone else took it, he didn`t to grab it and take a hold of it before anyone else did.

Today, Kory Canters and Hans Miner were walking around the Capitol. First they had gone to a restaurant, where Hans had eaten filet and Kory some pasta. Then, they had gone to the park and gave some pigeons a bit of bread from the restaurant.

Now, he was going to approach them.

"Hey!" he said as the pair walked to Games Center. "You, victors!" _Not the best way, Silvius. _

"No autographs." The younger one said. _You little rat, i will show you what i am capable of_

"No, i am actually a reporter. I work for Panem News, and i would like to ask you some questions."  
The older one looked distressed, but the District Eight Victor quickly calmed him down.

"It will okay, Hans. Only a few questions."

Silvius was ready to ask them.  
"What were you." He said pointing to the District Twelve Victor. "doing in the top of Jamaica`s building the night of Myriad`s assassination?"

Hans looked extremely worried now. _Am i tickling some rough spots?_

"I-I, I was just there as a tourist, you know?" _First wrong step, young man. _Silvius didn't even know for certain that he was there that night, it was just a hunch. But now he knew for certain that he was lying to his teeth. Nobody goes to Jamaica`s building rooftop at that time of the day.

"Why did, of all victors, receive a special training from a peacekeeper?"

"I-I, it isn't true! _Bullshit. _He knew he was lying, that he was lying through his teeth. A friend of his had looked into Hans, and, after some work, had found files relating to that. They couldn't get to all the information, but they gave Silvius enough.

"Why did you shoot him then?"

"Okay, that's enough." Kory said as he tried to pull his friend away.

"Is it because you hold a secret darkest than you could have ever imagined?" Silvius needed to continue. "Is it because you are rotten to the core?" Something, something tick him off. "Is it because you are… _perverted?"_

Hans then held a hand to his chest. For a moment, as he turned around, Silvius thought Hans was gonna punch him.

Then, he saw the sweating and the fact he was holding a hand to his _heart._

Then, he knew he had gotten into him.

"Hans!" The District Eight mentor screamed. "Hans!" he yelled as Hans feel into the ground.

_My work here is done. _

Hans had been left in the hospital. And Kory knew something.

He was going to make the bastard who did this to him pay.

* * *

**_Training Day Three_**

* * *

**_Noir Skoria, District Twelve Male (18)_**

* * *

Noir felt conspicuous.

He felt like everyone was watching him, telling on, talking about him.

And people didn't even knew his secret yet. He didn't want anyone anymore ever knowing about him. He was just here to win the games

But he did want a friend. And while he knew that Hermes wasn't likely to be a friend for long, he liked being around him. He liked being around him because Hermes was nice to him. Only his mother and his caretaker had been nice to him, and he didn't like telling them off when they were being nice to him. He thought he could nicer to him, though, but he also Hermes had to earn his trust. Hermes wasn't going go inside his heart that easy.

He thought Hermes wanted to go inside his heart, but he didn't know how to tell him that he wasn't normal. That he wasn`t, or at least didn`t have, what normal have. He wanted to tell him that so bad, but he knew he couldn`t. He knew that no matter how much he tried it, Hermes wasn't going to like him. And could ever be in a relationship if he knew what had happened to him?

Sometimes Noir felt like he should be asexual. But even though he didn't have that anymore, he knew he felt things. Things like love, things to make his heart go beat, boom boom. He knew that.

He had been staring at Hermes from the other side of the training center all day, and even though they were allies, he didn`t know how to approach it with his insecurities, or if he should even say them to him. Noir knew he wasn't a monster, unlike what the orphanage and his father had made him into believe, but he didn't felt like he was going nowhere anyway.

Had he been even right to volunteer? Cinder had thought he was being desperate with that action, but he knew he shouldn't even try to do anything like it because he wasn't trying to be that way. He wasn't trying to be desperate, he just was.

Hermes kept looking at him and Noir didn't know how to react. He felt something, but didn`t know what it was, or even if he was in the right to feel it.

May the games tell him what he should later on.

* * *

**_Kristoph Wyatt, District Five Male (17)_**

* * *

Kristoph was ready for his private session.

But first, he had to wait. Wait till his allies, and Midas and D3 finished their insanity with the long waiting they have been doing.

Chloris, before she had gone to the inside of the training showdown, had told him she wanted to speak with them later on, but he didn't know what it was. Kristoph just hoped he didn't want to get into his pants. She wasn't the prettiest girl here, and even if he wanted to get in her pants, he knew he had a game to play here, and he was going to play it no matter what he did.

He knew he had to not think about his wants. He had to only think about his needs, and his needs were survival from the games. Convincing Chloris of letting him join their alliance was an easy task, and he was proud of it. Being inside the career alliance meant that he was going far. It always meant that, he was sure of it, after seeing a lot of games from years past. Sure, in the 117th only two careers went far, and two died in the bloodbath, including the outer district one, but that was because there were fewer people in the career alliance.

Now, with seven people in the alliance, he was sure they could win this. And by them he meant himself, obviously.

He was curious about Midas. Why a career want to leave the career alliance? He wasn't sure of it, but he obviously didn't let it have much importance on his head. He knew he was going to die, and he, Kristoph Wyaty, was going to win.

"District Five Male`s, turn!" he heard the voice say from the wall. He was ready, he had a plan, and he was going to make sure it worked.

He entered the training room just after the District Four Female left it. That Opal girl was very loud, and he was going to make sure that if she continued being it, she was going to die.

He saw a lot of knives thrown into the a target, and some of them had missed. Poor girl. She was going to die.

"Whenever you are ready." The Head Gamemaker said. She was clearly expecting him to go show a few weapons.

But Kristoph had other plans.

He started taking off his clothes, and more and more attention he got from the gamemakers. The Head Gamemaker surely didn't like it from her face, but most of them did, and that's what mattered.

It got to the point when he was in underwear.

And then he started dancing.

Most of the gamemakers started cheering him, and they would throwing him stuff it wasn't for the forceshield. Aldora tried to calm them down, but it was useless.

The Capitol was thirsty, and then wanted blood, flesh and bones. And if it was naked, it was better.

And a lot of more if it was dancing to their needs.

Kristoph then showed it all.

The gamemakers screamed. Aldora sighed.

And then his time was up.

* * *

**_Dawn Maconson, District Ten Female (18)_**

* * *

Dawn was prepared.

She what she got to do. She knew what she had to do survive and win the games. She was a soldier, and she was prepared for it. To be a soldier to her nation, an kill her enemies.

_Her enemies. _She thought smiling. The other "tributes", if they could even be called that, didn`t know what would hit them. She would be ready to attack, and ready to kill them off brutally till they plead for mercy. She was going to win this games and come out of them as a peacekeeper, and as a victor, she will become head peacekeeper for this glorious nation.

_Do you think you deserve that after what you have done?_

"Where did that voice come from?" She says to herself. She looks around, and nobody had said a word.

_Weird.._

_Are you?_

"Shut up you forsaken voice!" Ernest looks at her with fear.

"Are you okay?"

"Shut the fuck up!" She says looking at Ernest Malthus. She remembers the man she made die. She finds glory in that. She thrives in that glory. She doesn't have any insecurities, does she?

No, she doesn't. She can't have them, right?

"District Ten Female, Dawn Maconson`s turn!"

Dawn goes into the precinct, and she, as she has decided, calls for a partner to spar with.

"I will show you what i am capable of!" she tells the gamemaker. Aldora Contreal looks pleased, and she decides to let it happen.

Dawn stars sparing with the trainer. The trainer stars going defensively because of her attacks, and she is gonna win, she is gonna win, she is gonna-

"Do you remember me?" Dawns looks next to her and she sees the five year old girl she made to be murdered.

"Leave me alone Ginger!" She says pushing off the trainer.

"Do you" Dawn receives a small cut on her cheek. "Remember me" Dawn gives a small cut on the chest to the trainer. "Sis, do you remember what you did?"

"NYAHHHHH!" Dawn tells her sister as she pushes the trainer once more and stabs her imaginary sister.

"Do you" Her sister says, away from she stabbed. "Remember what you did?"

"I. Said. DIE!" She goes and stabs her where she was.

Where she was supposed to be.

"Do you remember what you did?" She says and there are two of them now. Dawn slashes them both.

"Do you know you did? WHAT YOU HAVE TO OUR FAMILY?!" She says and there are infinite number on them on the room.

Dawn can't take anymore. She needs to get rid of those, of that monster. That abomination.

She starts stabbing every single one them. But everytime she does, more and more appear. More and more guilt over her shoulders. More dead sisters for her to feel guilty.

She hears the head gamemaker`s voice, and before she knows it, she is being grabbed and being taken away.

"No, leave me, i gotta-"

"Shut up weirdo."

But just before she is taken out of the room, she hears a voice, saying the words "Remember what you did"

* * *

**_Wraith Devlin, District Four Male (17)_**

* * *

Wraith is done with everyone's bullshit.

He didn't want Midas out of the alliance, but before he could write something down, he left. And while Wraith did leave him his notepad later, but it was only because he knew he didn´t one more than him.

And because Wraith could just ask Wels or Tormenta one more later. Tormenta knew the sign language because her sister was mute, and Wels knew it because it was mandatory in case they got a mute tribute for mentors to know at least some of it.

But that didn't matter right. What it mattered it was that because of him being the way he is, he couldn't refuse going up to the District One floor to join the rest of the careers to see the scores in Chloris´s floor.

He wasn't sure why Chloris had invited him, or anyone, as it felt more rational to do it in District Four or Two´s floor, since both of them were both careers floors completely.

But he didn't say anything. He knew that Chloris was their leader now, sorta, or at least the one with more possible damage to do to others in some way, the one with more pointiness to be the de facto leader.

He knew she just wanted to bother Midas because of what he had been doing, that being leaving the careers, and she just wanted to show him how much better off they were without him, and with Kristoph on the team as well as Bexley, they were the biggest alliance on the games, with no one to battle their glory as the best team on this competition.

It was indeed a competition. Wraith had once imagined this was going to be a glorious battle, an adventure to come out and tell his family about, but he didn't. At least not now, with Midas leaving the alliance and some nobody like Kristoph joining it.

Wraith and the others were expectant of the scores. They were in the living room of the District One floor.

"What do you think my score will be?" Opal told Chloris. "I bet it will be an eleven. Or even a twelve"

Ugh, he couldn't take it anymore. The next moment Hero was going to be honest with her…

"I think your expectations are too high, Opal. Maybe you will get an eight?"

And then Opal will attack him…

"How dare you!? I bet you will get a zero. Take that, Villain:"

And then Fernanda will try to calm her down...

"It's okay Opal, he was just trying for you to be realistic."

Obviously fail, and Bexley would calm into their defense.

"Do you really thin Opal isn't capable of doing great things?"  
Which would hurt Opal more than Fernanda, and then Kristoph would laugh.

"Keep it going, Opal, do you think you would be capable of killing Hero in the arena?"

While making the situation worse, and Chloris just watch.

And she was indeed doing that. She was just watching over her head at the situation, obviously analyzing everyone´s weaknesses.

So obviously he did the one thing he wanted on that floor.

Go to Midas´s room.

Midas was changing channels when he showed up.

"What are you doing here?" he said. "Shouldn´t you be with your allies?"

_It's okay_, he signed.

"Here, let me give you the notepad and the pen."

Then Wraith wrote what he wanted to say.

_How are you? Those guys are killing my head_.

Midas chuckled. "Yeah, they must be doing so."

Wraith so something on Midas. Something about being a person that couldn't really work things out the way he wanted, and the way he truly wanted to be alone. Something he saw in his self as well, and something he knew could do either well or bad in the games.

He didn't want to be that same guy. The same guy who didn't know how to put things properly. Wraith could do much better than what he already had, but Midas could. He wanted to help Midas as much as he could, but he didn't know how to do it or what.

If it wasn't a real risk to his own life, Wraith would ally with Midas, or at least ask him about it. But he knew Midas would like to alone in the arena, and he respected his wishes.

Then the TV flashed and the scores were starting.

"Good day, losers." Lorenzo Salas said. "I came here to show you the scores, but as i am too lazy to do an actual reading of the scores, they will be just shown on the side of the screen. Good luck, and be things never in your favour."

_Chloris Lillet: 11_

_Midas Ellsworth-Price: 10_

_Fernanda Aleksandrovich: 0 _

_Hero Cessar: 8_

_Ace Sharai: 5_

_Moghan Seller: 4 _

_Opal Wyndam: 6_

_Wraith Devlin: 8_

_Breaker Crawn: 6_

_Kristoph Wyatt: 8_

_Bexley Hartwell: 10_

_Hermes Stallion: 7 _

_Duchenne Lignin. 6_

_Ralio Targe: 4_

_Noleen Kassey: 1 _

_Hart Dallas: 5_

_Ryella Aral: 7_

_Miller Robinson: 3_

_Dawn Maconson: 8_

_Ernest Malthus: 2_

_Electra Milani: 6_

_Shale Harrison: 3_

_Amelia Magnolia-Rose: 2_

_Noir Skoria: 5_

Shoutings came from the living room of the floor. Opal´s laughs, Kristoph´s laughs, Bexley´s laughs.

And Fernanda´s screaming.

* * *

_Hope you liked the chapter. See you later,_

_-Santiago_


	16. Interviews: Mirage of Lies

_**TRIGGER WARNING: Rape issues. **_

* * *

_**Interviews**_

* * *

**_Duchenne Lignin, District Seven Female (16)_**

* * *

Duchenne was unsure of what to do.

She knew Lorenzo was a crappy waste of human space, but she knew she had to impress the public somehow. Even with him crapping on her.

"Are you okay?" Milo said to her. He had gained a nickname, Milo being that. She had once accidentally combiner the two names and called Miller, Milor. That was funny, or at least the him and Amelia laughed.

"Yeah, i am fine." Duchenne gulped. "I just don't know what to say for the interview, you know?"

Milo looked at her with deep eyes. "You could always come out. That's my plan."

Duchenne hadn't even thought of that possibility. She knew she wanted to tell out of her feelings for Evelyn, but she hadn't thought how. Maybe this was her chance, maybe, just maybe.

"Welcome!" had Lorenzo said once they had all come together. "Welcome to this horrendous moment where i have to spend even one second with these… _Dead meats._"

Every single tribute glared at him. Even Amelia, who was now next to her, glared at him so hard that if looks could kill, Lorenzo would be burning.

Most of the careers, including Kristoph and Bexley, talked about the career drama due to Midas leaving. Chloris said they were better off without him, which Midas responded with "I don´t care." Fernanda tried to make peace between them, and it worked if it wasn´t Lorenzo who she was speaking with. Hero, however, talked about his life in poverty in District Two, and how peacekeepers were killing off poor people to have a more "better" life at Two. The crowd was horrorized, but it worked in gaining him favor with them.

Moghan talked about his alliance, how much he liked Rye as a person. Ace said the chair was too dirty to seat on, so she was standed up all the time. Opal said Midas was bullshit and that people should be focusing on her instead. That didn't work, because Wraith´s translator talked about Midas all the time. Breaker just kept quiet all the interview, while Lorenzo sassied them, they just glared at him with a deep look of hatred. Kristoph talked about how he got into the careers, and how it was amazing that they had let him. Bexley said she was gonna win, constantly, and said "Fuck you!" to her mother.

And after Hermes finished doing some magic tricks, it was her turn.

"Come in, horrendous bitch! It's your turn to be massacred!" Duchenne didn't like Lorenzo one bit, but had to put up with him to gain sponsors, so yeah, it will do.

"Hi, Lorenzo!" She says, playing the dumb angle.

"Hi, bitch!" Everyone laughs in the audience. She wants to scream, but she can´t. "I heard your parents are dead. Must be pretty nice having no them, right?" The audience claps.

_Okay, this is enough. But i can`t kick him with my chair because of his force shield. What do i do? What do I do?_

"I bet you are a loner back home, not friends and no family, all that time for yourself must be pretty nice."

"Oh, you know, i am not alone."

"Oh, yeah, you are right. You must be friend of the trees!" The audience laughs, They must be pretty idiotic, or they have a laugh track.

"Actually, there is someone very important in my life, and i want to tell them something."  
"Go ahead and say your friends, the trees, what you want to say to them. One warning, they won't hear you."

Duchenne wants to kill him now, but she can´t. She must abide by the rules.

"Evelyn, I love you. I really do. You are the star to my lonely galaxy, you are the book to my knowledge. You compliment me so much and i just want to say that i love you and you are the best of me. That's all."

And with, Duchenne stands up and leaves. No matter how many times Lorenzo calls her back calling her ugly, or terrible, she knows she has done what she had to do. She had said her final words, and now she is going to fight to be able to say them again.

All the way down.

* * *

**_**Hart Dallas, District Eight Male (14)**_**

* * *

Hart has to wait to two more people to finish their interviews to start his, and for one of those, he will be truly attentive.

After the District Seven boy stops trying to defend himself from Lorenzo and runs away in tears, it´s Noleen turn at the interviewee.

"Hi, Noleen:" Lorenzo says. He is being… gentle with her? He hasn't gone into a ramble about her dress is modeled after the one in the chariots at all.

"Hi." Noleen says, she is about to continue when Lorenzo stops with his hand, and he speaks.

"We are very sorry for what have you had to go through, Noleen. No human being deserves what you have gone through."

_What does he mean?  
_Noleen seems to think the same as Hart. "What do you mean by that? My life is great."

"Yeah, well… about that…" He says dubitative. "Your father has been arrested trying to rape your little sister the other night."

Everyone's eyes, from the audience, the other tributes, Hart himself, all eyes go wide at hearing this.

All but Noleen´s.

"That's not true." She says. "My father is a good man, and he loves me very much."

"Well, first of all, if he loves you so much why don't you just call him dad." He says and stops to drink some glass of water he has next to him. "Second of all, after some necessary peacekeeper brutality, he has confessed to doing the same to you." He drinks a bit more of the water. "So, yeah, maybe he does love you, but in a perverted way."

Hart is confused, outraged and more confused. Why didn´t Noleen ever say this to him? Hart would have protected her, and even put her in a safe space. Why didn't she tell him anything?

Apparently, Noleen knew Hart was gonna ask her that, because she says:

"No, my daddy is a good man. All he does is he loves me."

"No, he isn't." Lorenzo says as he sips water.

"He is! My daddy is a good man! He is a good man! A good man! Good man!"

Noleen tries to attack Lorenzo, but she bounces back because of his force shield, and is carried away by the peacekeepers.  
"He is a good man! He loves me! He does it because he loves me!"

_She is sick_. Hart is disgusted by Noleen. He is disgusted by her as a person. Maybe once upon a time he had loved her, but now, she is a bugger to him. Just an annoying bugger he needs to get out of his nose.

"Next up is Hart Dallas, from District Eight!" Hart wasn't prepared for this interview, but now he knows what to do. Now he has a plan.  
As he takes the interview by grips he says when Lorenzo ask him about Noleen.

"Well, I think she is-

* * *

**_**Dawn Maconson, District Ten Female (18)**_**

* * *

"A bitch". That's what Hart says about his district partner. It's ruthless, something Dawn would do if he had any relationship with hers. Hart continues to talk about the Eight Female as he makes all statements about what she does to him. That is a sexual harasser, that she is bad girlfriend, that she is a drug addict. He says it all, and finishes the interview with a smile.

The District Nine girl, however, is absolutely confused, and just rambles around, saying that her boyfriend isn't that bad, right? That he is a good boyfriend, even though he sometimes makes her beat up people just because, right? That he loves her, right?

It's all too much confusing for Dawn, so she is happy when she takes off the stage. She is not happy, however, with the emotionality the Nine Male has about his friend. He talks about how his friend Charlie is the most important thing in the world for him, and that he loves him so. He comes out as gay at the end of the interview, and everyone in the audience claps.

_It's my turn now, _Dawn thinks as she takes the stage. She will have to patriotic and her game is on for her to play it.

"So…" Lorenzo says suspiciously. "You are going to become a peacekeeper."

"That's correct." She says brave in her own voice. "I am so proud of this nation and can't wait to defend it."

"Hmmmm." He makes that sounds Dawns hates. She wants to shut up them up whenever anyone makes that mosquito-like noise. "So you don't know."

"Know what?" She says, curiously.

"Well, you know you send your own parents to the execution…"

"Yeah, because they were drug traffickers."

"But do you know what your boss did to your sister?"

"Oh, he told he shoot her in the head when they entered the drug-filled place." She coldy says, expecting an applause from the audience. But no response is given.

"Well, Richard Hoffman did that, but did something before that. Roll the footage from the street camera, guys!"

Dawn is nervous as the screen is pulled down. What are they trying to show her? Nothing that Richard to her god forsaken sister will change her mind.

The video starts. Richard is holding Ginger to a wall in the streets of District Ten.

"_You bitch!" He says to her. "You were trying to overdose my men! My patriots! My dearest guard of this nation!" He pulls her pants down, and then his own. "I will show you what i do to people like you!"_

The video continues and Dawn is absolutely not buying it. It doesn't matter that she is desperately crying at seeing this, no, it can´t be. Ginger was evil and needed to be destroy and Richard is a good man, right? He is the one who is trying to turn her into being a peacekeeper. He must be good, and this fake_._

When the video finishes, Lorenzo speaks up. "If it is of any consolation, you would never be able to be a peacekeeper. Only District Two people are habilitated to be it."

She stands up while crying, throws her chair at him, and then it bounces back and hits her in the face. She cries even more and runs away.

This can't be possible, right? All she has believed in, it can´t be a lie, right?

Right?

* * *

_**After Interviews**_

* * *

Samuel had gone to a club that day. His fear of being alone had gotten convoluted with his fear of trying to hard, so he had gone to a club with his fellow victors, Pastore and Torres. They had gone to a gay bar, and even though Pastore and Torres weren't gay (even though he suspected Torres was a little bi), they had accepted to go and have had a great time. Pastore had been a little self-conscious being around so many guys who might get attracted to him, but after a while, he had been fine. They had a few drinks, and had a fantastic time. Samuel even flirted with a few guys.

_It's almost makes me forget Lo-_ Samuel didn`t want to repeat that name in his head. The only thing that name brought him it was sorrow and pain. He was a good memory… sometimes, but he wasn't worth the other times he cried over his death, and the unrequited love he suffered from it.

_How much i miss- Stop it. _He had to stop himself, it wasn't worth it.

He was the reason he hadn`t brought any guys home tonight, or any time. He was the reason he was all alone. He had to stop it.

He was going inside his apartment drunk, putting the kid in, when he found him. Or rather, _it._

The corpse of Silvius Falcon, beheaded.

* * *

_Hi, Hoped you liked the chapter. Review, and tell me what you thought about it!_


End file.
